Bruce Power saves teen's life with commitment to medical isotopes

Jadyn Schill is a brave girl.

The 14-year-old from Mount Albert, near Newmarket, has been battling brain cancer since she was five years old, and is convinced she is going to "kick cancer's butt."

She and her mother, Christine Chiasson, were at a special Bruce Power luncheon, Tuesday afternoon, to thank the company for its commitment to the harvest of High Specific Activity Cobalt used in non-invasive, targeted Gamma Knife brain surgery, a technique developed at a London hospital.

High Specific Activity Cobalt is available through the nuclear reactors at Chalk River which are to be shut down in March, 2018. Thanks to Bruce Power, the product will be harvested from the Bruce B reactors at the Bruce Nuclear site, beginning next year.

Jadyn, known as "SuperGirl" at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto, recently underwent Gamma Knife surgery because it was her final option for fighting cancer.

"I was five years old when I was diagnosed with brain cancer," she said. "They rushed me to Sick Kids by ambulance and I had no idea what I was in for. After five days of steroids, I underwent a 13-hour surgery to remove the tumour, and my left eye was paralyzed. I had six weeks of chemotherapy, 33 rounds of radiation, and then one year to the day, a small piece of the tumour started growing, and my fight began all over again."

She underwent surgery again in 2011, 2012-13, 2015 and 2016, and just recently, she had Gamma Knife surgery.

"I went to sleep and when I woke up, it was as if nothing had happened," she said. "I went home that night. I've kicked some major cancer butt!

"Thank you, Bruce Power, for providing medical isotopes to support the Gamma Knife surgery. I've had many surgeries, and too much radiation and chemotherapy. I was running out of treatment options."



Jadyn Schill of Mount Albert, near Newmarket, talks about battling cancer, at a luncheon at Bruce Power, Tuesday afternoon

Bruce Power president and chief executive officer Mike Rencheck presented a donation of $5,000 to the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation - Pediatrics, in honour of Jadyn and her battle against cancer.

Jadyn is also featured in two new Bruce Power television advertisements. To learn more about Jadyn's story and the innovative Gamma Knife technology, check out the TV commercials at www.brucepower.com/cobalt