Triplets Luke, Mason and Thomas Low, each battling the same form of rare cancer that has left each of them visually impaired in one eye, are gearing up to help other sick children.
Last Friday, the triplets who have been named this year’s 11th Annual Kimmett Cup Children’s Wish Foundation ambassadors, had their super-hero shadows traced onto a canvas for them to paint and auction off at this year’s tournament.
Leslie Low, the boys’ mother, said the triplets were diagnosed with the disease when they were just three months old. Due to the rarity of the cancer, they were sent for treatment in Toronto.
“We would travel about every three weeks for treatment as when they were infants to try and catch these tumors while they were small and hopefully fight them,” Low said.
Today, each of the boys has one prosthetic eye and one eye with perfect 20/20 vision.
The proceeds of the auctioned painting will go towards the Wish Foundation where other children battling illnesses will have the chance to pick a grand activity of their choosing.
“Hearing the story of how (the Kimmett’s) charity was started and how they’ve been able to give back so much for such a great loss is really touching. Absolutely really great people,” Low said.
As for the triplets’ wish, they have yet to pick one, but are hoping to join each of their wishes into one very special wish.
Laura Rushforth, a past Wish recipient with 95 per cent vision loss due to her illness, is also set to be an ambassador this year and she made her own Harry Potter-themed painting.
“I’m actually kind of happy because I love doing anything with my hands because that’s just my world now,” Rushforth said.
In the past, art created by Wish Children has sold at auction for over $1,000 a piece.
The Kimmett Cup is a quintessential Canadian charity event, where hockey players lace up their skates on Mitford Outdoor Pond to honour the memory of University of Calgary Medical School Alumnus Lindsay Leigh Kimmett.
Two million dollars has been raised for local charities by the Kimmett Cup since its beginnings.
This year the organizers expect 700 players, over 100 volunteers and hundreds of spectators.
