Telemiracle has saved and changed lives in Saskatchewan, where 'ring those phones' has become a provincial motto.
In Swift Current, the Kinsmen and Kinettes are highlighting the story of 7 year-old Dylan Powell and his recovery for interstitial lung disease. The boy is appearing on flyers and billboards, and will be featured throughout the marathon broadcast, now in its 40th year.
Even though he was a baby when he was sick, Dylan still remembers his time at the hospital.
"I do - lots of it. I got a tube down my throat, tube in my lungs, and there were two holes in my heart. And then, there were these two machines, and whenever I stopped breathing, the alarms would go off and they'd wake Mom and Dad up so they can come and make me breathe again," he said. "Yeah, I'm ready to play soccer."
Dylan's mother, Vickie, explains why Telemiracle means so much to her family.
"Dylan was sponsored by Telemiracle when he was a baby. For about nine months, we were in Edmonton. We got funding for our travel and our lodging and food," she said.
As Dylan got better, Vickie and her husband Shayne joined the local Kinsmen and Kinettes, as a way of giving back. This will be their fifth year working at Telemiracle. Shayne handles security, while Vickie works on the shadow committee. Next year, she'll be the manpower chair, a job that's responsible for over 800 Telemiracle volunteers.
Dylan said he's taught his fellow Grade 1 students at All Saints Catholic School about Telemiracle's meaningful and life-saving work.
"My whole class doesn't even know about Telemiracle. And I told them I was in the hospital and Telemiracle helped me," he said. "I told them there's people that work on phones, and they do some talents."
Vickie says her son is excited that he's featured in the upcoming promotional material for Telemiracle 40.
"He's loving it," she said. "He keeps bugging his sisters that he's going to be famous. He can't wait to see himself on the billboards. I've already shown him the pictures of the flyers... and he's very, very excited."
Vickie said Dylan recently helped raise money at the Swift Current Kinettes' bake sale in December. On February 13th, the club is also selling carnations and boxes of chocolate for Valentine's Day.
This year's Telemiracle is taking place March 5th & 6th at the Conexus Arts Centre in Regina.
Tue, May 14, 1:00 PM
Agriculture, Transport
Featured
