Saskatoon mother hopes children’s book about daughter who died of cancer will help others

A Saskatoon mother is hoping to help children with cancer by telling the story of her daughter, who died from an aggressive form of leukemia last spring.

Cass Thiessen’s daughter Clarke was first diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) when she was just two years old.

Thiessen said Clark spent much of the next four years receiving radiation, chemotherapy, a bone marrow transplant and other treatments to cure the disease.

Throughout that time, Clark never let her family lose sight of the fact that she was ill, Thiessen said.

“He didn’t quit, so there was no resignation in us,” Thiessen said.

“She was dancing before her first radiation session. She knew she was going to be locked to a table with a radiation mask and she was dancing in the hallway with all these elderly people she was sitting in the room with and they were just smiling at her. She just brought joy.”

talking with saskatoon morning host Stephanie Massicotte, thyssen Said Clark remained positive despite spending most of her life in Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital and asked for a birthday present not for herself but for her younger brother.

“Oh my God, that girl can take over a room,” Thiessen said.

“He had a lot of energy, he loved playing pranks on everyone. We were constantly setting up different booby traps and scaring the nurses.”

Clark died last April at the age of six. After his death, his family established a foundation Supporting Saskatchewan families battling cancer.

During a celebration of Clark’s life, family friend Tracy Kondratiuk started thinking her story might help other children.

“I felt very happy sitting there thinking this was a children’s book. It felt like a children’s book to read.”

With Thyssen’s support, Kondratiuk wrote a children’s book. Clark’s big, brave heart To capture Clark’s quirks, inspire children with cancer, and provide a tool for families to talk about the disease.

“I think it teaches kids a lot, and kids who may be going through other health challenges or battles, but it’s also something that parents can use as a teaching tool and a way for people to really appreciate the life they’re given,” Kondratiuk said.

Thiessen said the book gives people, especially other children, a way to talk about what she and Clark went through.

Funds raised from sales of the book will support the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital and help families battling cancer in Saskatchewan through the Forever Clark Foundation.