Molly's Mission and Caleb's Courage: Cape Breton families bound by loss, giving back

Family who lost child to cancer giving back Just over a week after losing their daughter to cancer, Molly Wadden's family is raising money to make a difference.

Just over a week after losing their daughter to cancer, the family of a Cape Breton girl who captured the hearts of many is speaking about their loss – and about the friendship they’ve formed with another family who has gone through a similar nightmare.

"Just like with anybody, knowing that the end is near, you realize 'What have I done? Could I do more? What can I do to make a difference in the lives of others?'" said Jeff Wadden, whose daughter Molly headed up a charitable cause known as Molly’s Mission in the last months of her life.

Sadly, Molly Wadden passed away on July 7 after a brave fight with Ewing Sarcoma, a form of bone cancer. She was 12-years-old.

"As everybody would expect, we're grieving,” said Nadine Keller-Wadden, Molly’s mother. “It's a terrible loss – for everyone, for us. We're lucky we've had a lot of support to help us through."

Through their tragic experience, the Waddens have found friends in another family that knows their pain all too well. For years, Mike and Nicole MacArthur have led Caleb's Courage, a successful community fundraising initiative honouring the legacy of their son Caleb MacArthur. For Caleb’s parents, getting behind Molly's Mission only felt natural.

"They have a very long road ahead of them and they have just endured every parent's worst nightmare”, said Nicole Forgeron-MacArthur. “And we want to be there to walk alongside them."

"She was thinking about 'What I can do to help other people?' – people who will eventually be where she is”, added Mike MacArthur. “She’s an inspiration, like Caleb was to us."

On Saturday, Molly's parents attended the Sydney Rotary Ribfest to support Caleb's Courage, one of the charities that benefited from the more than $35,000 raised by Molly’s Mission in just a couple of months. The Waddens are keenly aware that many people wonder how they find the strength to help others so soon after their loss.

"We had that done for us. So we now choose to do that for others,” Jeff Wadden said. "Molly's Mission will continue. Her mission is not complete, even though we've done so much."

The two families, though bound by tragedy, are forging together to try to do some good in their community.

"Just knowing that they were there, it mattered”, Nadine Keller-Wadden said. “And so we want somebody else, who is in those same shoes, to know that there are people here."

When asked how Molly would like to be remembered, her father spoke highly of his daughter.

"She decided, on her own – herself – to make a difference”, Jeff Wadden said. “Those are vague, broad terms but I believe that she would like to be remembered as a person who helped and made a difference with others going through similar things that she [went through].

“I think if she was remembered in that way, we would be doing her honour and justice for her memory."