CORNWALL, Ontario – Since 2015 Marjorie Neill has made over 100 healing blankets for nurses, police officers, sick friends, and now she has made some to help children who are recovering from, or a still fighting childhood cancer.
In 2015 Neill began making the quilts for nurses who were helping with the effort to fight the wildfire in Fort McMurray, AB. A former nurse herself, Neill has also made quilts for members of the Cornwall Police Service, as well as friends.
She makes her quilt out of different materials, including old nurses scrubs. Neill explained that nurses give so much of themselves to help their patients heal, she hoped some of that love lives on in the materials in her quilts.
“These quilts are soft, they are comfortable, and I hope that they give out good vibes,” she said.
Now, she is donating six of her healing quilts to local children who have fought cancer.
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month and at the beginning of the month, the Childhood Cancer Awareness flag was raised at City Hall.
Cheryl Tourangeau’s son Alex fought and beat childhood cancer, and for the past few years she has helped encourage residents to paint Cornwall gold in honour of Childhood Cancer Awareness month.
“Four to five kids are diagnosed with cancer per day in Canada, and 20 per cent of them won’t make it,” she said.
