Remarkable stories of children and teens making the world a better place, one astonishing act at a time
BY Claire Sibonney
INSPIRE
Crafting Comforts For Kids With Cancer CECILY EKLUND, AGE 11
CECILY EKLUND has always adored her baby dolls. When she was six, she needed them more than ever. She had to go through brain-cancer surgery and MRI scans, but she was told she couldn’t take her favourite dolls with her into the magnetic machine because they had metal in them.
So Cecily and her mum, Cathy—a home-schooler of seven kids and a professional doll maker in Westlock, Alberta in Canada—got creative. They made a special doll, using weighted glass and other MRI-safe materials, that could stay with Cecily during the long imaging appointments.
Besides the materials it was made with, the doll was unique in that it had no facial features.
“That’s so they can have any emotion,” says Cecily, who was inspired to create these dolls, called “Blessing Babies,” for other sick kids. She and her mum began crafting more (Cecily did the hand sewing and stuffing, while her mum handled the machine work), donating some to children’s hospitals and selling others to fundraise.
Due to high demand, they recruited other doll makers to work alongside them. Soon, doll makers worldwide also began contributing, sending boxes of their handmade dolls to support the cause.
Cecily’s initiatives grew. She began selling handmade plush puppies and inspirational clothing patches, in addition to running toy drives and fundraisers for various charities, such as the Edmonton Police Foundation’s canine-unit programme, the Kids With Cancer Society and the Ben Stelter fund, in honour of another Edmonton child, who died of brain cancer at age six. Including monetary and gift donations, Cecily has raised $200,000 (nearly £160,000) so far.
Cecily’s generosity caught the attention of another high-profile Edmontonian, the Oilers’ power forward Evander Kane, who met her in the press box at a game in December 2022, when he was recovering from a lacerated wrist. Kane gave her an autographed jersey, and in exchange she gave him a patch that read, “Scars are tattoos with better stories.”
They’ve had a special friendship ever since. Kane accompanies Cecily to some of her scans, and Cecily and her mum stay at Kane’s house when she needs to be closer to Edmonton’s Sto
