Sporting similar scars on their necks, Langford resident Katerina Edwards and her dog Lili are both on the road to recovery.<\/p>\n
Just a week after Edwards was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in February, her five-year-old Chiweenie was rushed into emergency surgery to remove two ruptured discs in her spine \u2013 a condition causing her severe pain.<\/p>\n
Treatment came with a $9,000 price-tag, an amount that felt out of reach for the mom of two boys, ages 10 and 12.<\/p>\n
Overwhelmed at first, Edwards refused to give up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where everything shifted,\u201d she says. \u201cI decided I have to do something so I feel useful \u2013 I needed to regain some kind of control.\u201d<\/p>\n
What happened next left Edwards speechless.<\/p>\n
After posting a simple request on two community Facebook pages \u2013 asking people donate their refundable empty drinking cans to help raise cash for Lili\u2019s surgery \u2013 the response was immediate.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, within an hour my phone was exploding, I was getting messages from everybody,\u201d said Edwards.<\/p>\n
In four weeks, Edwards estimates she has been given 25,000 empties, amounting to $2,500 in value.<\/p>\n
Each can, bottle and milk carton holds meaning for her.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many people cared about a stranger,\u201d says Edwards. \u201cThey don\u2019t know my full story, they don\u2019t know my life, yet they stopped, read the story and replied to it \u2013 it\u2019s just incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Financial support has also come through an online fundraiser, with around $2,000 raised so far. WAVES veterinary hospital also helped Edwards access $800 from a charitable fund, and one of her bookkeeping clients provided an advance to help bridge the gap.<\/p>\n
The outpouring of support \u2013 no questions asked \u2013 has left Edwards humbled. She admits she expected some criticism for not having pet insurance, but instead, has only encountered kindness.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never ever in my life asked for anything \u2013 this was the first time,\u201d she said. \u201cSo it was really nice to see that reaction from people, not once did I feel judged.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s not just the financial help Edwards is grateful for.<\/p>\n
On her rounds collecting empties from doorsteps across the community, folks have paused to talk to her and connect.<\/p>\n
Many have shared stories about their own pets.<\/p>\n
Edwards recalls a \u201cstoic-looking\u201d man who caught her off-guard, opening up to her about the loss of his dog during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could see him tearing up about his best friend, and that just broke me right there,\u201d she said. \u201cThis gentleman who wouldn\u2019t even break a smile, then comes and shares something so sensitive and vulnerable with a stranger who\u2019s picking up his empty cans \u2013 perhaps he needed that moment that day?\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with empties, others have offered hugs, or quietly slipped the odd $20 bill into Edwards\u2019 pocket, telling her they wish they could do more.<\/p>\n
Some have even made small sacrifices to help.<\/p>\n
One young girl in Bear Mountain had been diligently collecting cans to buy candy. When her mom shared a photo of Lili and explained her plight, the girl decided immediately to give her haul to Edwards.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m taking candy from a young little girl,\u201d said an emotional Edwards, with tears in her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still have a hard time today describing how much everyone\u2019s stories have meant to me and how much it really helped.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unexpected friendships have formed along the way too.<\/p>\n
Now a familiar face at Langford\u2019s GFL waste sorting centre, Edwards has struck up a close friendship with an employee she calls \u2018Bruce A\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been very supportive and every time he sees me, he helps me out with sorting the cans and has been always so encouraging,\u201d said Edwards.<\/p>\n
When Edwards first shared her plea for help online, she chose not to mention her cancer diagnosis, keeping the focus on her four-legged friend in need.<\/p>\n
But when she has needed it most, moments of kindness have found Edwards in unlikely places.<\/p>\n
She remembers the day she was given her diagnosis.<\/p>\n
Her doctor told her that she \u201chad\u201d cancer \u2013 it had all been removed successfully. However, the word \u201ccancer\u201d sent Edwards into a spin.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still the cancer word,\u201d she said. \u201cYou\u2019re not ever ready to hear it \u2013 you just hear that one word and then everything just shuts down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sitting in her car outside the doctor\u2019s office, Edwards called her partner to share the news. A woman in the car next to her overheard the conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe pressed a note on my window,\u201d said Edwards. \u201cAnd it said something like, \u2018I\u2019m sorry, I didn\u2019t want to hear your conversation, but do you want a hug?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
In her other hand, the stranger held out an offering to Edwards \u2013 two Lindt chocolate balls.<\/p>\n
Edwards stepped out of her vehicle and embraced the woman, who she learned was waiting for test results after undergoing the same surgery.<\/p>\n
The stranger\u2019s selfless act has stayed with her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t even know what the right word is to describe it,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing for her \u2013 who has not had her results yet \u2013 to give me a hug and say she cares.\u201d<\/p>\n
While she will need some follow-up treatment and checkups, the prognosis is good for Edwards. Lili too is reaching the end of a 10-week recovery period.<\/p>\n
But as they both move forward, Edwards says she will never forget how the community stepped up to help them.<\/p>\n
She hopes to eventually raise enough to not only cover the cost of Lili\u2019s surgery, but also repay the charitable fund that helped her in her moment of need. Anything more, she will donate to local animal rescue organizations.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that time, I needed it,\u201d says Edwards. \u201cBut if I can, I will for sure give it back to them, because somebody else might need it.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, she is focused on gratitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to say a big huge thank you to everybody,\u201d she says. \u201cThere is not enough I can do or say to express how grateful I am for all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sporting similar scars on their necks, Langford resident Katerina Edwards and her dog Lili are both on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[49,48,55],"class_list":["post-586337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-vancouver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}