Seven year old Emily Lusignan is one tough little seven-year-old, but nothing could prepare her for the diagnosis she received in July: brain cancer.
One moment, a healthy and happy little girl. Then without warning, her family is thrown into turmoil.
"We're not experts on it, but we know it's not good," says her father, Mike Lusignan.
"It's a fast growing type of cancer and was attached to her medula, which is the heart and breathing centre of her brain," explains her mother, Alison, who is a teacher at Emily's school in Stittsville.
Alison has taken the year off work to help the family cope. Mike, a stay-at-home dad, had planned to go back to work this year. Their focus now is on their daughter. Surgery in April removed most of the brain cancer, but it also affected Emily's eyesight and balance.
The rest of the cancer will be treated through aggressive chemotherapy in Toronto that will require the family stay there for at least four months.
"It has to be done in Toronto because it's like a bone marrow transplant and we don't do those here," says Dr. Donna Johnston, a pediatric oncologist in Ottawa.
It will be a critical four months, but the family is hopeful the treatment will work.
Now the family's community is stepping in to help pay the costs of the four months of treatment in Toronto. Emily's school, the Catholic church in Stittsville and even strangers have come together in to support the family.
A bar-b-cue on Thursday evening had as its goal to raise $10,000 to help return Emily to health.
The community has also set up an account for donations for the family. It's at the Scotiabank in Stittsville under Emily Lusignan's name.
With a report from CTV's Joanne Schnurr
