Please help young Madden and his family

I'd like everyone to take a moment to get to know Madden.

Madden is an amazing young man, almost 13 years old, but in his short life he has had more medical issues than most people have to endure over the course of a lifetime.

From the time of Madden's birth he has struggled with a variety of compounding medical issues: lung disease, endocrine disorder, esophageal motility disease, and recently diagnosed with MIRAGE syndrome (a rare and spontaneous genetic disorder recently discovered and named) among a list of many other challenges.

Madden is followed by 8 different clinics at Children's Hospital, and has literally spent hundreds of days there as both an in and outpatient. He has had countless procedures and surgeries, and lives on multiple medications and therapies.

One would think living in a state of perpetual poor health and discomfort would negatively effect Madden’s mood (and no one would blame him), but you would be wrong. You’ll never meet a young man beaming with as much positivity and enthusiasm for life as Madden. I've had the pleasure of coaching Madden in hockey, and no matter the circumstance I could always rely on Madden to bring the smiles. I think a lot of us would do well to learn about perspective from this little man.

As for why I’m looking to raise money for Madden and his family: recently he has faced a sudden and acute health crisis. Madden went for his routine bloodwork in January and it was discovered he had chronic kidney disease, with no warning. After a month of investigation it was discovered the damage to his kidneys was so extensive it couldn’t even be pin pointed to what caused the damage. His condition continued to rapidly deteriorate to the point that it was determined, in March, that he needed to be referred to the transplant team. In April, it was determined he would not survive the wait for a transplant without dialysis.

Dialysis is a life-sustaining therapy and a very intensive process that requires surgery, a hospital stay, and weeks of training for Madden’s parents Jesse and Eryn so they can care for Madden at home so he can retain something of a normal life.

Being on dialysis and waiting for a transplant is a long drawn out process. Jesse and Eryn taking time off work to care for Madden is not a preference but an absolute necessity. Throughout this they will be regularly commuting to Vancouver for clinic appointments and transplant assessment. When, and if, Madden finally gets his transplant they may even need to take up temporary residence near Children’s Hospital.

There will be a lot of expenses to this, so I’m asking, as a community, that we can all chip in and help relieve them of one less burden to be saddled with.

If you have any ability to help, no matter how little, please do and show Madden and his family they have a whole community supporting them.