When Torrence Frechette, 7, broke her arm in a playground incident right before her school’s Terry Fox Run, she was devastated.
Frechette was looking forward to running in the event in September for École des Grands-cèdres, Port Alberni’s francophone school, where she is in Grade 2. However, Frechette’s doctor told her she wasn’t allowed to run for six weeks.
“Instead of being worried about missing out on fun after-school activities her main concern was that if she couldn’t run, how would people with cancer get the money they need,” her mother Tasha said. “Torrence is a very compassionate person and very caring.”
For the past two years, Torrence has raised $100 in her school Terry Fox Run, mostly from personal family donations. This year, one of her good friend’s mother has cancer. “It’s something we think about a lot,” said Tasha.
“I posted on social media that she was feeling so concerned about not being able to run. We wanted to do something more for her to make it a positive experience.
“I figured I might get $100.”
By the next day, Torrence’s total was already up to $1,500. “I was in total shock,” said Tasha. “Everyone was so moved by her.”
While the rest of her classmates were supposed to run 13 laps around the Klitsa ball fields on Sept. 23, Torrence managed to walk seven before her arm started to hurt.
While they were walking the field, Tasha told Torrence that she had raised $1,500. Torrence said she was so excited.
“The first words out of her mouth were ‘can we donate it right now so that people with cancer don’t have to wait any longer to feel better,’” Tasha said.
The mother and daughter donated a total of $1,660 and submitted it online. They received an electronic thank you from the Terry Fox Foundation. École des Grands-cèdres donated a total of $2,025 to the Terry Fox Foundation from their 2022 run.
susie.quinn@albernivalleynews.com
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