Tsawwassen's Taylin McGill got to be this year's Vancouver Festival of Trees champion.
The 13-year-old, along with her family and friends, attended the opening event for the B.C. Children's Hospital fundraiser last month at the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver.
It was exciting to be the champion child this year, she said.
"All my friends were there so I loved that," said McGill, who fundraises throughout the year for the annual Festival of Trees with her pals as part of a group called Kids 4 Kids.
She also invited her neurosurgeon, Dr. Cochrane, who's done about 10 of her 14 brain surgeries, and her pediatrician, Dr. Prisman. The opening, which included showing off this year's trees and the introduction of McGill as the champion child, coincided with a major milestone for the upbeat teenager -three years without a major seizure.
She went through a stretch of three years where every three months she'd have to take an ambulance to Children's Hospital because of seizures that could go from five to 90 minutes, said Taylin's mom, Erin.
Her family found out just 10 days after she was born that Taylin had salmonella bacterial meningitis.
A feature on Taylin on the B.C. Children's Hospital Foundation website notes she contracted ventriculitis (inflamed ventricles in the brain), was diagnosed with hydrocephalus (accumulation of fluid in the brain) and that those "early infections caused blockages to the movement of cerebral spinal fluid in her brain." Erin said Taylin basically fought for her life in her first three months.
"It's pretty amazing she's doing the stuff she's doing because what she's overcome is absolutely immense," Erin said.
Taylin, who's in Grade 8 at South Delta Secondary, is involved in Special Olympics swimming while softball is her favourite Special Olympics sport.
Her dad Sean said she's a very happy kid who's easygoing and awes them every day with her outlook.
He told one recent story where she saw a kid not in her class eating alone at school. Not wanting the other student to be alone, Taylin asked the student to have lunch with her.
"All the stuff we get worried about and hung up on, she's not worried about that stuff," Sean said.
The Kids 4 Kids group, started by Madeline McCart, one of Taylin's friends, has raised money for B.C. Children's through the Festival of Trees for four years. According to a fundraising page, the group has raised money over the years by hosting garage sales, a name a bear contest, working a concession stand at a dance show, bottle drives and hosting a Halloween dance. They were set to hold a doughnut sale yesterday at SDSS as well. It notes the group also includes Alia Kahn, Mabel Lundy, Nicola Bancroft and Chloe Roberts.
For more on the group, visit http://bit.ly/1TmbUxT.
The Festival of Trees at Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver and CF Pacific Centre runs until Jan. 5.
