Langley girl helps others like her

Those who bought one or more of Maddie’s Masons at The Christmas Show at the Langley Events Centre’s Fieldhouse on Nov. 15 and 16 contributed to a worthy cause.

Ten-year-old Maddie Peterson sold mason jars containing homemade candles to raise money for BC Children’s Hospital, so that she can help other kids like her.

Maddie was eight years old when she had my first seizure.

“It was very scary for me because I didn’t know what was happening,” she said. “When I was heading to the hospital I had another seizure in the ambulance, this made me very sleepy and I lost feeling in the left side of my body, this made my mom, dad, and family very worried.”

The feeling came back but soon Maddie shared that she “had to have lots of tests at BC Children’s Hospital.”

One of these was an MRI.

“I was brave and was able to do it awake,” Maddie said. “The doctors called me and my family in a few days later to tell us what was going wrong. I got to see pictures of the inside of my head, and this is where we saw what is called an AVM, pretty much I have what looks like a big tangled mess of elastics.”

Maddie explained that these are actually veins and arteries “and I have too many extra.”

“These tickle my brain and cause the seizures,” she added.

Maddie takes medication to help her have fewer seizures.

“They sometimes still happen, and it is scary but I know when they are going to happen and I know I will be okay,” she said. “I need to have check-ups and tests for a long, long time, and right now my type of AVM can only be helped with medicine, but one day I hope it will be gone forever.”

To purchase one of Maddie’s candles, email maddiesmasons@live.com.

Maddie also has a fundraising page online through the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation. To donate, click here.

To visit Maddie’s Masons Facebook page, click here.