Khai Macleod (pictured middle) and his mom Julia Macleod (pictured left). Photo Credit: Macleod family/ K.Wolfe

By Shane Clausing

khai's story

Grande Prairie company hoping to raise money for local boy suffering from Gastroschisis

Aug 10, 2021 | 2:22 PM

A Grande Prairie company is hoping to help raise funds for a local boy and his family through a golf tournament at the end of August.

Khai Macleod of Grande Prairie has suffered from gastroschisis since he was born.

Gastroschisis is a birth defect of the abdominal wall. Babies born with it have their intestines found outside of their body, exiting through a hole beside the belly button.

Because of Khai is suffering from gastroschisis, it has meant various trips to the hospital, further health complications, and long trips back and forth to Edmonton in order for Khai to get the treatment he needs.

While the last three years have been stressful for Khai’s family, Clint Easton with ONSITE3D says members of Kahi’s family have kept a positive attitude throughout this process.

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He adds their Grande Prairie team learned about Khai’s story, learned about the family’s positivity, and wanted to help lend a hand to show their support.

“He’s been pretty sick for over half of his life,” said Easton. “Some members of our Grande Prairie team became aware of Khai’s story (at an event) and specifically the message (his family) was putting out.”

“The message his family was putting out (was), how during the darkest times they stayed positive to try and keep Khai’s spirits up so he didn’t feel as sick as he was feeling, that was a message that really resonated with our team. That kind of motivated us to show appreciation for that, emulate that, and payback and help them out a bit.”

As a result of learning about Khai’s story, ONSITE3D decided to host a golf tournament at The Dunes Golf and Winter Club on August 27 to help support the family.

Easton tells EverythingGP their goal is to raise as much money as possible for Khai’s family so they can help cover the medical and travel expenses.

“What we’re hoping to accomplish is to get the community together to raise some funds and help Khai with his hospital visits. The family has to travel to Edmonton regularly for extended hospital stays for his treatments. That comes with a lot of costs and expenses to the family, so we’re hoping to alleviate that a little bit.”

The golf tournament will have silent auction items. It costs $149 per player and includes dinner after the tournament.

A GoFundMe page has also been set up by the family for anyone who is unable to attend the golf tournament.