A fundraising campaign for a young Red Deer boy battling lukemia was featured on a billboard in Times Square on Wednesday. (Photo submitted)

By Sheldon Spackman

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Red Deer boy’s leukemia battle featured on Times Square billboard

Aug 20, 2020 | 4:38 PM

The family of a young Red Deer boy battling leukemia is hoping their son’s recent appearance on the Times Square billboard in New York City will help raise support and awareness of childhood cancers.

Jacey Schlosser’s five-year-old son Daxton was part of Great Cycle Challenge USA’s Tribute Day on Wednesday which saw Daxton and others battling cancer, have their stories briefly featured on the main billboard in New York’s Times Square.

Schlosser says her son Daxton was diagnosed with acute leukemia last September and has since undergone chemotherapy to help get his condition treated.

“He had a genetic mutation to his leukemic cells which makes it quite a bit tougher to treat,” says Schlosser. “So he was on a very high risk protocol which lasted at least over the last 11 months. He’s still not done frontline treatment, which means that he is in hospital I would say about 90 per cent of the time due to having absolutely no immune system.”

Though currently in remission at Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton, Schlosser is hopeful Daxton can come home in the next couple of weeks.

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“But because he has the Ph mutation to his leukemic cells, he is more prone to relapse than a normal kid with just regular leukemia,” she points out. “So they have to continue to treat him for at least another two years.”

Schlosser describes Daxton as a little superhero.

“He is amazing,” says Schlosser. “For all that he’s went through, every single day he gets up, he’s smiley, he jokes around, he loves giving the nurses a hard time – it’s his favourite thing to do and he has the best nurses here in Edmonton. He loves playing superhero games and he’s super, super brave. I look up to him so much, he’s my best friend.”

Daxton Schlosser, 5, of Red Deer. (Supplied)

Daxton has had great support however, from family, friends, and even a former colleague of his great uncle, Tony Baker.

Baker says his former co-worker Sherry McGartland of Pennsylvania is doing the Great Cycle Challenge USA in September – all in support of Daxton and children’s cancers. The Challenge is what led to Daxton being featured on the billboard in Times Square.

“She fell in love with Daxton when I first told her the story of him when all this started,” explains Baker. “So she decided to use Daxton for a fundraiser, and then she was chosen to have her picture and Daxton’s picture up on the billboard in Times Square. So he’ll have about 8 seconds of fame on the big Times Square Billboard in New York City.”

McGartland says doing the Great Cycle Challenge (GCC) was something she felt she could do to help support cancer research.

“My husband is a cancer survivor twice and my mother is a cancer survivor three times,” reveals McGartland. “So there is a very soft place in my heart for Jacey. After learning about Daxton, my heart just melted and it felt like a no brainer.”

“After I shared Daxton’s story with the general GCC group, at least five people have posted that they are now riding for him,” continues McGartland. “I do not know them, but they were touched by his story.”

Schlosser says she’s grateful for the fundraising and awareness opportunity.

“He is so positive and outgoing and just a great candidate for them to show because he has had quite a rough journey and a lot of kids do,” she exclaims. “It’s not made aware as much as I think it should be. So having it put up in Times Square should really make a big difference. He thinks it’s pretty cool.”

In addition, Schlosser is also grateful for all the support shown on Daxton’s Facebook page and through the GoFundMe fundraiser started by Baker.

“Even just the daily messages that people send, like asking how he is, which to me is the most important,” she admits. “And when times are tough, people do donate when we need, so that has actually come in quite handy at times.”

“Just getting any sort of awareness out there for kids like Daxton is super important because until Daxton got cancer, I wasn’t aware of how common and how much these kids really go through,” concludes Schlosser. “You don’t have any idea what these kids deal with on a daily basis until you’re in the frontlines honestly. It’s nothing like adult cancer whatsoever, it’s a whole different battle.”

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