Five custom made intravenous stands have been donated to the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, thanks to a charity dedicated to helping sick children.
"We made him feel proud of his battle and we wanted to echo that to all the other kids who are affected by any illness in general," said Iain Macri, the father of Mason Macri. "This is a way we watch him grow up even though we aren't able to."
Mason Macri is a four-year-old boy who died after living with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a form of cancer that develops from skeletal (striated) muscle cells that have failed to fully differentiate.
The poles cost roughly $1,200 to make, however, the charity makes no money off of them. Mason's mother said the charity has put a patent on the idea so no one ever will exploit sick children for financial gain.
"We shouldn't make money off of sick kids," said Chantelle Bacon, Mason's mother. "It's not their choice that they become sick and we want to make sure these kids don't have to worry about financials."
Mason's Power Poles have been distributed across Ontario, including Windsor, Toronto, London, and the Muskokas. What started as a memory of their son is turning into a national call to action, similar to one started by Terry Fox in the 1980s.
"Having his poles all over the place means he has his friends all over the world, or all over our community," said Iain of what Mason would think about the initiative. "He would just smile looking down on these kids, give them a thumbs up and say, 'be proud of your battle.'"
On Tuesday, the health alliance joined the Fight Like Mason charity in brightening up the day for Chatham-Kent children who live with variations of the life-altering disease.
According to Iain and Chantelle, Mason is and will always be a superhero. In some instances, the parents would use analogies to Iron Man, Captain America, and Spider-Man in order to let Mason know what was happening with him.
"Before he passed we asked him if he was thumbs up or thumbs down," said Bacon. "Even at that moment, he was thumbs up. It was never a negative point, it was never he was sick. It was just we have to defeat the villain."
The two plan to take Mason's fight across the country and said they have been contacted by pediatric oncologist departments in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, inquiring about power poles. Both Macri and Bacon said, however, going overseas will not happen in the immediate future.