Sarah Watkin: Small but Mighty, Young but Wise

Sarah Watkin is in many respects an ordinary 7 year old. She enjoys playing with her friends, creating art, bike rides with her Dad and loves being a big sister. Her ordinary life took a dramatic change, when at the age of 5 she was diagnosed with a life threatening illness, Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) an aggressive form of childhood leukemia. She was given a bleak 50% chance of survival.

The past two years have been extremely difficult for Sarah and the Watkin family. But they are fighters, and rather than turn to despair, they turned to hope. This is how Sarah’s Drive for Hope began. This Facebook group allowed the family to share their journey and educate people about the importance of blood and bone marrow donation. Through the attention Sarah’s Drive for Hope has created, people have heroically stepped up to the plate, and lives are being saved.

As I always preach, you can’t control circumstances, but you can control how you respond to them. Victimhood is a choice, as is heroism. Sarah is a hero. And she quite unexpectedly walked into my life 3 weeks ago. I’ve entertained thousands of children over the past 4 years at the Montana’s where I perform (bi-weekly), but Sarah was unforgettable. Her smile is infectious, and she appreciated my magic so much that made she me a thank you card out of the paper table cloth.

When Sarah and her and her family came back to see me two weeks later, I was thrilled. Her parents were touched when I told them Sarah’s card had made it onto my refrigerator. It was that day that her father told me about the challenges Sarah had been facing, and how heroically she had been facing them. It’s not often that you find a magician speechless, but I was overcome, and inspired. I jumped at the opportunity, when only I a few days later I had the privilege of performing for Sarah again at a special surprise event. I was even more tickled to discover she’s an aspiring magician herself.

For the past two years Sarah has continued to make lemonade out of the lemons she’s been dealt. Her and her family have brought much needed attention to blood and bone marrow donation, and for this I, on behalf of School Heroes Unite would like to honor “Super Sarah Watkin”. Please help Sarah, and all those who suffer from life threatening illnesses in need of bone marrow and blood. Please contact www.onematch.ca and become a bone marrow or blood donor. Be a hero and save a life!

Scott Dietrich