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Chilliwack woman who was burned as a baby asks folks to support Hometown Heroes Lottery

Annual lottery raises money for Burn Fund and Vancouver hospital foundation
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The BC Professional Fire Fighters’ Burn Fund helped Monica Webb of Chilliwack more than once, including sending her to Burn Camp as a teenager and giving her a bursary. She’s currently in Nanaimo at Vancouver Island University studying to be a registered nurse and will be graduating in June. (Submitted)

A Chilliwack woman who was burned when she was a baby is sharing her story and encouraging people to buy tickets for a charity lottery that helps burn survivors and others.

Monica Webb was just a year old when she was burned, so she doesn’t remember the accident. But she recalled what others have told her about the day.

“I was walking around the kitchen table and poured two bowls of hot soup down on myself burning my left hand, chin and chest,” she said.

Money raised from the Hometown Heroes Lottery goes towards the Burn Fund and the Vancouver General Hospital & UBC Hospital Foundation.

This year, the annual charity lottery has 10 grand prizes to choose from (nine homes plus a $2.2 million cash prize), plus thousands of other prizes.

In the years following Webb’s injury, the BC Professional Fire Fighters’ Burn Fund helped her more than once, including sending her to Burn Camp and giving her a bursary.

When her accident happened, she spent three weeks in BC Children’s Hospital getting skin grafts and continued to wear pressure garments for a year after.

“I can still remember the stares and comments made to me about my scars when I was growing up.”

But when she went to Burn Camp – a summer camp where young burn survivors meet for a week of swimming, hiking, kayaking and more – no one stared at her.

Webb admits she was hesitant to go to Burn Camp for years. It wasn’t until she was 13 that she finally decided to give it a shot.

“I wished I would’ve said ‘yes’ much sooner,” she said. “Going to Burn Camp that first time and for the years after that changed my life.”

RELATED: 13-year-old Chilliwack burn survivor supported by ‘Heroes’ lottery

This year, 75 children will be attending Burn Camp in Squamish along with firefighters and medical teams who volunteer as counsellors. Being a burn survivor and attending camp with the many nurses and other first responders that help make it possible, influenced Webb’s decision to go into nursing.

She’s currently in Nanaimo at Vancouver Island University studying to be a registered nurse and will be graduating in June.

“I can’t wait for a career in which I can give back and help people who need it the most just like I did when I spent those three weeks at BC Children’s Hospital.”

She said graduating nursing school would not have been possible without the emotional and financial support from the Burn Fund throughout the last four years.

“Being the recipient of the 2021 Kris Biggs Leadership Bursary has really helped me be able to focus more on school and less on the financial demands of post-secondary education,” Webb said.

The Hometown Heroes Lottery supports Burn Fund programs and raises essential funds for specialized adult health services and research at VGH and UBC Hospital, GF Strong Rehab Centre, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and Vancouver Community Health Services.

In addition to sending kids to Burn Camp and handing out bursaries, the Burn Fund offers mental health support for burn survivors and firefighters, as well as the Home Away Program, which gives accommodations to burn and trauma survivors at the Burn Fund Centre in Vancouver.

For the first time ever, this year’s Hometown Heroes Lottery has 10 grand prize options to choose from. The prize homes are in South Surrey (which is the largest prize package worth more than $2.7 million), Lake Country, Courtenay, Langley, Vancouver (two homes), North Vancouver, Sooke and Penticton.

The grand prize winner also has the option of choosing $2.2 million tax-free cash, the largest cash prize in the history of the lottery. In total, there are 3,220 prizes to win, worth over $3.2 million in this year’s main lottery which includes the grand prize draw, three bonus draws and early bird draws. Tickets start at $75 for a three-ticket pack.

There is also the Daily Cash Plus game with 105 days of winning (tickets start at $25 for a two-ticket pack), and the 50/50 PLUS jackpot (tickets start at $15 for a two-ticket pack) that could reach over $2.4 million.

“The medical teams at VGH, UBC Hospital and many other health care centres under our umbrella – which support all British Columbians – are empowered to offer world-class health care thanks to the generous support of the Hometown Heroes Lottery,” said Angela Chapman, president and CEO of the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation. “Lottery funds go towards purchasing cutting-edge, life-saving medical equipment and technology and puts it in the hands of our specialized health care teams. These funds today help support the future of health care – for all of us.”

Tickets can be purchased online at www.heroeslottery.com, by phone at 604-648-4376, toll-free at 1-866-597-4376, or in-person at any London Drugs.

Ticket sales for the 2022 Hometown Heroes Lottery run until July 14, or until tickets sell out.


 

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Email: jenna.hauck@theprogress.com
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Jenna Hauck

About the Author: Jenna Hauck

I started my career at The Chilliwack Progress in 2000 as a photojournalist.
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