A pair of Taylor Swift tickets are being auctioned off in Ottawa to help fund a cure for a Stittsville boy with a rare disease.
Last year, seven-year-old Jack was diagnosed with hereditary spastic paraplegia type four (SPG4), a disease that affects less than 0.01 per cent of the population.
“He has a mutation in one of his genes, the neurons in his brain and spinal cord are slowly degenerating and as they do that, he’s slowly becoming paralyzed,” his mother, Anna Laidlaw said.
Although there is currently no treatment or cure, his parents Anna and Richard Laidlaw have been fundraising since March to help fund one.
“We were playing hockey, and he asked me why his leg wasn’t working to do a turn that he needed to do for a drill,” Richard said. “So, things are slowly happening.”
So far, they’ve raised $81,000, with the help of the community and numerous other fundraisers throughout the year.
In total, around $300,000 has been raised, with the help of two other foundations in the United States, to help research into a cure.
“It’s really special knowing we can contribute towards this cure and knowing all these fundraising efforts are going towards this gene therapy that our son needs,” said Anna.
“We will hear in December about the progress of their research.”
Now, two tickets are being auctioned off to see Taylor Swift ‘shake it off’ on stage on Nov. 14 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
It’s the daughters of a family friend who are giving up the chance to see their idol perform live, in the hopes of one day finding a cure.
“We just feel very thankful to them and their family for helping,” said Anna.
“We’ve been listening to Taylor Swift quite a bit, there’s a lot of excitement,” said Richard.
In total, the family is working to raise $3 million U.S. dollars, which would move the research into human clinical trials. The money would help a team in the United States treat and potentially cure the disease using gene therapy.
“We’ve just been so blessed that there’s been so many people that have said, ‘how can I help you?'” said Anna.
While there is a sense of urgency as the disease progresses, the family says they are taking it one day and one fundraiser at a time.
“We need the Ryan Reynolds, we need the Georges St-Pierre’s to post and help us, it’s just one little Tweet that will go so far in helping us get this $3 million,” said Richard.
“Then locally, we need the big construction companies, the Ottawa Senators, all these big sports teams to really jump on board and help us out.”
Bidding for the Taylor Swift tickets ends on Nov. 9 and an anonymous donor is matching the winning bid with up to $50,000.
Another fundraiser is planned for Sunday, Nov. 3 from 4 -5 p.m. at the Stittsville Legion, for a Taekwondo demonstration and lesson.
Spots can be reserved at SPG4CureFundraiser@outlook.com. Tickets are $20 for an adult, $10 for a child and $50 for a family of four.