Allan Wolfram never would have met his grandson if it weren91裸聊视频檛 for the treatment he received through clinical trials at BC Cancer-Kelowna.

It was one of several stories the audience heard at an event that saw the Bannister family of Kelowna donate $1.5 million to the BC Cancer Foundation.

91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 certainly grateful to the staff here, they basically saved my life,91裸聊视频� Wolfram added.

Wolfram had esophageal cancer which had spread and caused a tumour in his brain.

Weeks after treatment the tumour shrunk and the cancer in his esophagus was gone.

91裸聊视频淪o yeah, clinical trials are important,91裸聊视频� he said.

Wolfram91裸聊视频檚 story resonated with the Bannister family.

91裸聊视频淥ur family has been touched by cancer,91裸聊视频� said Chad Bannister, Bannister Automotive Group. 91裸聊视频淢y grandpa passed away from prostrate cancer, my mom91裸聊视频檚 dad had colon cancer and survived, my wife had thyroid cancer, I91裸聊视频檝e had skin cancer.91裸聊视频�

Bannister said some of his employees and their families are also dealing with cancer.

91裸聊视频淚f we91裸聊视频檙e in a position to help make that treatment better and let our staff and let the community focus more on health, then that91裸聊视频檚 what we91裸聊视频檙e doing.91裸聊视频�

Bannister91裸聊视频檚 father, Lyn, added that stories such as Wolfram91裸聊视频檚 need to be heard.

91裸聊视频淎ll this money is being spent on cancer research and people think nothing is happening and you come to an event like this and you realize there are things happening. You listen to Allan, I mean that91裸聊视频檚 a helluva story. People don91裸聊视频檛 hear them enough I don91裸聊视频檛 think.91裸聊视频�

The Bannister91裸聊视频檚 donation will go towards creating a new, state-of-the-art systemic therapy suite at BC Cancer-Kelowna.

It will help meet the growing demand for cancer treatments in the Interior, and provide the infrastructure to bring early phase clinical trials to Kelowna for the first time.

While BC Cancer-Kelowna does conduct some clinical trials, once the therapy suite is operating, it opens to door to more and varied trials.

91裸聊视频淭he earlier clinical trials, we have to be really careful about what impacts they might have on the patients who are participating, so you need better monitoring capability,91裸聊视频� said Dr. Ross Halperin, executive medical director.

The new therapy suite will have that capability, he explained.

91裸聊视频淭he data from patients like Allan will inform us and make a therapy that wasn91裸聊视频檛 available as standard therapy before, and a clinical trial proves that it ought to be standard therapy.91裸聊视频�

Dr. Halperin added that the Bannister family91裸聊视频檚 gift will have an incredible impact on how patients will be treated in Kelowna.

Once completed, the therapy suite will serve cancer patients in the Interior.

91裸聊视频淚f there are trials that are only available in Kelowna, people from all across the province will then be travelling to access those treatments,91裸聊视频� said Pardeep Khrod, associate vice-president, of BC Cancer Foundation.

The donation is the largest gift to date for the $6.1 million project.

Construction is expected to start in spring 2024 and take approximately 18 months.

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