Edwin Wang loves his racquet sports. The 10-year-old, Grade 5 student at Manoah Steves elementary school is an avid badminton and table tennis player who is always ready to square off against a willing opponent.
But, in 2013, something was wrong. Edwin was frequently listless. He was losing weight. And he was often nauseous and turned down meals.
“He was getting very skinny,” said his mom, Grace.
So concerned, it got to the point that Edwin’s parents decided to take him to the hospital. There, he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
“That came as a big surprise,” said Grace. “We had no idea that’s what he had. Diabetes is nowhere in our family.”
Faced with a regimen of medicine to keep his blood sugar levels balanced, Edwin had to develop a new, daily routine that included insulin injections. And while they did their job, the Wangs, who moved to Canada from Taiwan in 1999, had a new bill to pay which was not met by health care coverage.
That’s when they sought the assistance of Variety which celebrates the 50th anniversary of its Show of Hearts Telethon Feb. 13 -14 on Global TV. During its five decades, Variety has raised more than $189 million dollars that have stayed in B.C. to help families such as the Wangs. Support for Edwin’s specialized treatments have cost around $6,000 to date.
Grace said they are extremely grateful for the assistance from Variety and plan to tune in on the night of the telethon, which this year is getting back to its roots.
There will be two, live shows on the performance stage at The Centre in Vancouver. And viewers can watch at globalnews.ca/live/bc on the Global BC website.
