By Chris Brown

'Special little warrior'

Dominic Rooney continues to inspire, reminds cancer support group why they do what they do

May 9, 2021 | 9:43 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – A young boy who first captured the hearts and minds of the community about seven years ago continues to do the same.

When he was 11 months old in 2013, Dominic Rooney was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. His father Sean and mother Trish were public about the diagnosis and their journey all the way until Dominic passed away in September 2015.

Medicine Hat rallied around the family, as did others around the world.

Helping Families Handle Cancer (HFHC) is one organization that helped the Rooneys during that time. Almost six years later, Dominic is the poster child for HFHC’s current marketing campaign.

Right now he adorns the banner photo on the group’s Facebook page.

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Sean says knowing that so many people remember Dominic warms his and Trish’s hearts.

“Keeping his name alive is what keeps him around and keeps him in people’s memories,” says Sean. “Whenever we see things like that whether it’s a thumbs up on the street or somebody wearing one of the shirts or in this case seeing it on their social media, they remember him, they think fondly of him. That brings a smile to our faces too. Grief never goes away but it certainly makes it more manageable in those points when the community far and wide has your back.”

HFHC provided the Rooneys with parking passes for the Alberta Children’s Hospital. Dominic spent the better part of two years there.

Every family’s situation is different and HFHC tailors its help to each family’s needs. Executive director and founder Carie Stock says they help with groceries, utility bills, rent, fuel costs, medical supplies and medications not covered by an existing health plan.

“During the stressful time that a child is battling cancer, we bring financial relief to their family which allows them to focus on their child in crisis,” she says.

Stock says that for any cancer fight the ending can’t be controlled the ending but her ultimate goal is to alleviate financial stress so that parents “can be more at their child’s bedside and when they are at their child’s bedside giving them one less thing to worry about.”

Stock recalls Dominic fondly and calls meeting him one of the biggest lights that happened in her life.

“He was a very special little warrior to us and not only is he on our Facebook page but we incorporate a lot of Dominic’s legacy in our marketing,” she says. “He’s on the front of our brochures, he’s in a lot of our print ads or marketing that we do because he meant so much to us. When I look down and see his face it reminds me what we’re doing it for.”