Aiden Hobbs is all smiles.
His mouth runs a mile a minute as he explains his recent trip to SickKids Hospital in Toronto.
This visit was much more exciting than his first.
The 10-year-old from Collingwood was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease earlier this year. After spending eight days at the hospital in the spring, Aiden made it his mission to give back to the team that so lovingly helped him through his hard time.
With help from his family, Aiden spent the summer making and selling bracelets as a fundraising campaign to raise money for the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Centre at SickKids Hospital.
Each of the bracelets contained at least one of two beads: blue for SickKids and purple for Crohn’s disease.
“My mom taught me how to make them. Some had colourful string and some just had beads. I lost track of how many I made. It was a lot,” Aiden said.
Crystal Hobbs, Aiden’s mother, said that once word got out, the influx of support from the community was heartwarming.
“We were shocked by the amount of people who didn’t know thim that reached out. People donated without even asking for a bracelet,” she said. “The outpouring of support has been phenomenal.”
“One day, I was walking home from school with my dad and this random lady biked over, gave us a $10 donation and then biked away,” Aiden said with a laugh.
On Oct. 7, Hobbs had the pleasure of heading back to Toronto feeling healthy and happy. He donated all of the money he made from the bracelet sales to the IBD Centre in the form of one large cheque. A grand total of $734.15.
“I was very happy about what I did,” said Aiden.
The hospital was happy, too. On his last visit, Aiden was approached by one of his nurses and asked if he would give a speech at the SickKids Research Institute on Nov. 13.
Aiden said he will get to speak in front of doctors from around the world to explain what IBD means to him and why he thinks the Centre deserves funding.
“I’m not really nervous. I’m happy to do this. Because of SickKids I am feeling better and can continue to do what I love,” said Aiden.
And for now, that is just what he is doing. Aiden is energetic by nature and he loves passing the time by playing baseball or video games.
Crystal said Aiden is focused on school and keeping healthy. He had a few setbacks over the summer, so they are working on managing his health and getting him back to par.
“Hopefully it’s smooth sailing from here,” said Crystal.
If you are interested in making a donation to Aiden’s cause, visit his campaign here.
