Norfolk family touched by childhood cancer organizing toy drive for sick kids

Getting a mountain of toys for his third birthday in January helped Marshall Cox cope with the toughest days of his treatment for acute lymphoma leukemia.

Now Marshall’s family is organizing a toy drive to brighten the spirits of kids at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton.

“We received so much, and now he’s feeling better so we want to start trying to give back,” said Marshall’s mother, Sarah Cox, at the family’s Norfolk County home.

On Sept. 16, a convoy of motorcycles and a pickup truck will visit parks throughout Norfolk, where residents can drop off new, unopened toys and craft kits.

Cox said bigger toys are welcome for the hospital’s toy cart, while smaller dollar store-style items are perfect for McMaster’s “treasure chests,” from which kids choose a reward after receiving an injection or undergoing “anything uncomfortable.”

Marshall has reached into the treasure chest many times since being diagnosed with leukemia in July 2022.

He started feeling pain in his legs last Canada Day. When a fever lingered for days and Marshall was in so much pain he could no longer walk, the family went to the hospital.

Marshall’s worrisome blood work prompted an ambulance trip to McMaster, where more tests confirmed the cancer.

“It’s not something that you expect,” Cox said.

“You always think it happens to other people’s kids. Not my kid. But then you get the diagnosis.”

She and her husband, Adam, took turns spending the night at Marshall’s bedside while his chemotherapy treatments began. The liquid chemo treatments continue at home, on a strict schedule.

“There’s some months where he has four different medicines that he has to get at certain times every day,” Cox said, explaining that to be late with a dose means risking a relapse.

“At the beginning, it was really overwhelming,” she said. “It felt like we were in survival mode for the year.”

Cox said Marshall is doing much better these days. His hair has grown back, his feeding tube is out, and he has gained weight and has more energy.

“He’s pretty much back to himself, running around,” Cox said.

Marshall still goes to McMaster for monthly checkups and other procedures, and will undergo what Cox described as “maintenance chemo” until September 2024 to destroy any hidden leukemia cells.

But to his family’s relief, Marshall’s prognosis is good, as are his spirits.

“I don’t think he realizes he’s sick anymore,” Cox said.

OUTPOURING OF SUPPORT

What started as a solitary experience for the Cox family soon turned into a community effort to support them.

A fundraiser at the Domino’s Pizza in Delhi raised $13,000 — allowing Cox to take nine months off work and focus on caring for Marshall and his five-year-old brother, Aiden — and a birthday card drive for Marshall saw more than 100 cards land in the mailbox.

“It made a huge impact in our lives,” Cox said. “I was shocked to see that many people cared. It was really nice.”

Next up is the toy drive on Sept. 16, which will visit Port Dover Kinsmen Park from 9 to 10 am, Wellington Park in Simcoe from 10:30 to 11:30 am, Waterford Yins Park from 1:30 to 2:30 pm , Delhi Quance Park from 3 to 4 pm, and Port Rowan Lions Park from 4:30 to 5:30 pm

The family will deliver the toys to McMaster when Marshall goes for treatment in October.

Cox hopes the toy drive — held during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month — will cheer up kids like her son, and those whose prognoses are more dire.

“This might be the last toy they get to play with,” she said.

“If you can bring a smile to their face one more time, why wouldn’t you?”

JP Antonacci is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter based at the Hamilton Spectator. The initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.