Pitching in: Family helping raise $8-million for BC Children’s Hospital

The organizers: Eliana Gappan, Abd Alaziz Gappan, Maysaa Alabtah and Selena Gappan

The pitch: Helping raise more than $8-million

The cause: BC Children’s Hospital

Back in April, five-year-old Eliana Gappan came down with a cough and fever that soon turned far worse. Within a couple of weeks her legs felt numb and she couldn’t walk.

Her parents – Abd Alaziz Gappan and Maysaa Alabtah – took her to the hospital near their home in Nanaimo, B.C., but doctors couldn’t diagnose the problem. When she started developing weakness in her face, Eliana was rushed by helicopter to BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.

Her parents were distraught. “This is your kid just dying between your hands, and you can’t do anything,” recalled Mr. Gappan.

The family had immigrated to Canada from Syria, by way of Saudi Arabia, in 2022 and Mr. Gappan was preparing for his final exams to become a veterinarian.

He accompanied his daughter to Vancouver, and from the moment they arrived at BC Children’s, he couldn’t believe the care she received. “It was a Sunday and they called in the whole staff, the MRI responsible staff and other technicians and doctors,” he said.

Doctors diagnosed Eliana with Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a rare condition that occurs when the body’s immune system attacks nerves. A team of doctors, including a neurologist who specialized in GBS, treated Eliana for three weeks. She also received extensive physiotherapy at the Sunny Hill Health Centre involving music, painting and pet owners who visited the centre.

Eliana slowly regained her strength and soon she was able to walk. She was discharged on June 5, her sixth birthday. “She went back to her school, playing and jumping with her friends, talking again,” said Mr. Gappan.

Eliana and her family – she also has a younger sister Selena – have become spokespeople for the hospital, which recently held its Dream Lottery. The annual draw raises around $8-million for research each year.

Mr. Gappan plans to become an active donor once he starts his veterinarian practice and he’s already been making presentations about the hospital at Eliana’s school. “I will do whatever it takes,” he said.

“Any kid can have this disease but you will not get this care in any other part of the world,” he added. “We need to support these researchers and these doctors and these workers.”