Airdrie girl with life-threatening illness heartbroken to miss Monday concert by her idol Shawn Mendes
All a 14-year-old Airdrie girl named Kaley Biggar wanted was to see Shawn Mendes sing on Monday, but then she received a life-threatening diagnosis.
Biggar was diagnosed with a yeast infection in her blood and for the past seven weeks, has been a patient at the Alberta Children's Hospital, where she's receiving an aggressive antibiotic treatment to clear up the infection, according to Dana Leann, a friend of the Biggar family.
Further complicating matters, Biggar is being transferred to Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton next week. There, on July 11, she's scheduled to have open heart surgery, and get a pacemaker she's had since childhood replaced in the hopes of curing her.
Shawn Mendes performs in concert during Q102's iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2018 at the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018, in Philadelphia. (Photo by Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP)
Biggar's kidney function is declining as well, which makes the surgery even more necessary.
Because of the threat of contracting any virus, Biggar can't go see the pop star perform Monday night at the Saddledome in Calgary because even if she caught a cold, that would result in a six-week delay for her surgery.
Kaley Biggar at Children's Hospital in Calgary
Biggar was born with multiple, life-threatening birth defects and has had 44 surgeries, with two more scheduled for the next four weeks. She was born with three holes in her heart and is 100 per cent feeding tube dependent.
The Alberta Children's Hospital has reached out to Mendes with no luck yet.
The Biggar family wants the public to share her story in the hopes of getting the singer's attention.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.