Meet Nori
Meet Nori
A feisty 7-year-old who is dreaming big in the middle of a difficult fight!
“She’s feisty!” is one of the very first things Nori’s mom, Haleigh, shared with us when asked about her seven-year-old daughter.
“She’s definitely the boss of her sisters and of the family. It’s her way or no way. But she’s also a super sweet and kind kid who cares more about other people and their inconveniences than her own needs.”
Pictured: Dream Kid Nori is the boss of her sisters and families - but she’s also a super sweet and kind kid who cares more about other people than her own needs.
Apart from her role as the boss to both her twin sister and older sister, Nori is a creative: she loves art, music, dancing - anything to do with crafts or making things. She even made a batch of candy apples to celebrate her recent 7th birthday just a few weeks ago.
Unfortunately, Nori’s 7th birthday took place just days before she is set to once again begin radiation treatments. Her family learned during a routine MRI this February that doctors found spots on the scan, and suspect that her cancer has returned.
“She was just doing really well,” says Haleigh, “She was gaining weight, her hair was growing back, she could run and dance and play. We were so happy you know, things were starting to get back to normal.”
Today, as we share Nori’s story and work to raise funds for her dream come true, she is in the middle of a new round of very difficult fight — one that first began in November of 2019, when Nori was just 5-years-old:
Pictured: Nori’s mom, Haleigh, expects that they have made more than 100 trips from their home in Portage to Winnipeg for Nori’s treatments and appointments.
“We noticed that she was really dizzy, she began throwing up, and starting losing a lot of weight,” explains Nori’s mom, “At first we thought it had to do with her vision or eyesight, so we took her to an eye doctor.”
Upon completing a test to examine pressure behind her eye, Nori and her family were sent immediately to the Children’s Hospital - an hour and a half from their home in Portage La Prairie. Upon arriving, their worst fears were realized: Nori had a cancerous tumour the size of a grapefruit in her brain.
From there, things moved quickly and it would be weeks before Nori’s family returned home. She underwent a 14 hour surgery that removed 95% of the tumour but left Nori with paralysis in her right side.
After her surgery, Nori’s treatment was complex and incredibly challenging. Haleigh thinks they’ve made more than 100 trips from Portage to Winnipeg over the last year for appointments and treatments alone.
Nori had a shunt put in to drain fluid, complications with her g-tube, and a very intense chemotherapy schedule.
“It just killed everything in her body,” recounts Haleigh, “She was just so weak, throwing up blood, and just… it was just destroying her.”
Nori’s mom describes her daughter as resilient and fearless.
“It’s hard to even talk about. The fact that she’s lost a childhood. She goes in and gets these needles and pokes and does MRI’s and things I don’t even understand sometimes. It’s impossible to imagine what she’s been through.”
“...I thought it was incredible - two days and The Dream Factory was already involved, lifting her spirits during one of our toughest times.” ”
Since her first surgery, Nori has re-learned how to eat, walk, run, and dance and hasn’t let her challenges slow her down. She’s also started to dream.
After being referred to The Dream Factory through a Child Life Specialist at CancerCare, Nori’s family became part of our Dream community.
“We were in the middle of this huge thing, we were just trying to keep our daughter alive. The specialist told us she was going to put our name in, and 2 days later Shannon [The Dream Factory’s Dream Coordinator] was at the hospital with a present for Nori. I thought it was incredible - two days and they were already involved, lifting her spirits during one of our toughest times.”
Pictured: Nori loves making things, and created this amazing batch of candy apples to celebrate her 7th birthday just a few weeks ago!
Today, Nori is just months away from her Dream come true. While at first she wanted to visit Disney World (she told her parents they could simply take her when she’s older!), she - in true Nori fashion - wanted something she could share with her friends and family: a backyard above-ground pool.
“It’s giving Nori something to look forward to in a time where there’s just so little. It’s such an empty, helpless feeling to see your child go through something like this. We have to put our trust in everyone else. To see her actually be able to dream up something, and have someone say ‘yeah, that’s possible!’ Is a pretty amazing thing,”
As Nori begins her next round of treatment, she is still the same sweet and kind kid who cares about others, but also love to tell it like it is.
“Her teacher told me the other day that she was at school and one of Nori’s classmates had to go get a needle. They were so scared, and Nori looked at them and said, ‘I’ve got more needles than anybody in this room, you are going to be fine!’”
Nori’s attitude is that if she can do it, anybody can do it!
Nori is fighting hard right now to make sure she can enjoy her backyard pool this summer, but we are counting on your help today to make it possible.
We need your help today to bring Nori’s dream to life. Please consider a donation to the Dream Drive between April 15th-29th to help us reach our goal and ensure this very special dream can come true this summer!