Eloise Hobi hopes her friend Chase Lamont will be back to school soon.
On Aug. 23, 10-year-old Chase had a stroke while on a family picnic near Lac La Hache and has been in Children’s Hospital ever since.
His father Chris Lamont said Friday that Chase is now staying at Sunny Hill which is part of Children’s Hospital where he is alert and aware.
“He definitely has a long way to go,” Chris said. “He is bed-ridden but we get him up to go in the pool and other things. We are still holding our breath and being positive and optimistic.”
Chase was born in Williams Lake and became known more publicly a few years ago because he had cancer when he was six years old.
Cops for Cancer Tour de North has since chosen Chase multiple times as a junior team survivor because he was cancer free.
On Saturday, Nov. 26, Eloise and her classmates at Nesika Elementary School held a fundraiser at Cariboo Bethel Church for Chase and his family.
The event comprised of a Mexican dinner cooked by members of the Latino community and a silent auction featuring items donated by businesses and the community and artwork created by the students.
During the fundraiser Eloise passionately sang a selection of songs she dedicated to Chase.
In some instances she even inserted his name in the lyrics.
“I really miss him and am never going to stop loving him as a friend,” Eloise said after she thanked everyone for coming. “I feel very touched because he is just 10 and when he was in Kindergarten he had cancer. He recovered and now he had a stroke.”
Eloise’s mother Mariana Hobi said her daughter and Chase became good friends at school last year.
“When he did not return to school in September she was really missing him,” Mariana said. “She wanted to go visit him but when we went to Vancouver it wasn’t a good time for Chase to have visitors.”
After they returned home, Eloise really wanted to do something to help.
“We talked about it and came up with the idea of having a dinner,” Mariana said.
Touched by the efforts of his son’s classmates and the community, Chris said it so nice that everybody wants to help in some way.
“We are hoping Chase can go into Ronald McDonald House at Christmas for a few days,” Chris said, noting Chase’s mother Shanna Stangoe has not wanted to leave her son’s side.
Natalie Easthope taught Chase last year at Nesika.
Describing Chase as an incredible artist, she said it was great to see that his classmates created artwork for the silent auction.
“It was truly amazing to see the efforts of our students and community come together Saturday night, spearheaded by Eloise,” Easthope said. “What an incredible showing of love and support for Chase and his family.”
A family friend has established a GoFundMe account titled Chase Lamont’s medical recovery fund to help with travelling and accommodation expenses as well as extra cost for Chase’s care.
Here Eloise sings one of the songs dedicated to Chase.