Marlee Wilson, a Burns Lake resident is the recipient of the 2022 Cycle of Hope Lemon“aid” education fund. The ALS [Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease] Society created the fund in 2015 with a $12,500 donation from the Cycle of Hope Society to seed the Cycle of Hope Lemon“aid” continuing education fund.
Recognizing that ALS affects an entire family emotionally and financially, this fund was created to provide financial aid to B.C. students whose parent(s) is living with or has passed away from ALS.
“Since my mother’s diagnosis of ALS in 2016 I have been heavily involved in her care. During the summer of 2020 and 2021 I worked part-time as one of her care-team members. I have found that the training I have received as a nursing student to be incredibly valuable when caring for my mother. Furthermore, the experience I gained caring for my mother has also assisted me during my journey as a student nurse. Some of the skills I was taught formally as a student nurse were things I already had experience with because of my mother’s condition such as giving IV medications and caring for her feeding tube,” said Wilson
Wilson is a second-year nursing student in the Northern Collaborative Baccalaureate Nursing program at the College of New Caledonia and the University of Northern British Columbia. She is a dedicated student and has consistently received high marks in the course of her studies.
She is continuing her education to become a registered nurse. After graduating from the program, she plans to work for a year as a registered nurse before selecting a nursing specialty or applying to medical school to become a physician. Wislon received $2,000 towards her education.