Lung transplant recipient Kayla Baker, along with her family and the entire community of Cambridge, has received a special award from the Canadian Transplant Association in Ontario.
The Victor Davis Memorial Award recognizes efforts to raise awareness about the need for organ donation.
It was handed out Sunday at a special ceremony in Cambridge.
“We're honoured to receive it with the city of Cambridge,” said Kayla’s mom, Susan Tremblett. “They have been our biggest support.”
The community showed their support for Kayla by displaying green ribbons, a symbol for organ donation, throughout the city as the teen awaited a transplant.
Those ribbons caught the eye of the association.
“I came here in town in May, and the whole place was still green,” says Sandra Holdsworth of the Canadian Transplant Association.
That same month, weeks after Kayla received her transplant, the city hosted a fundraising run for the Hospital for Sick Children.
The event raised a whopping $30,000.
According to the transplant association, the efforts also helped bring about a jump in the number of people registered for organ donation in Cambridge and surrounding communities.
Meanwhile, Kayla is still recovering in hospital and receiving treatment for cancer.
Her mom says she has both good days and bad ones.
“Being on a ventilator, coming off the ventilator, it takes a lot out of you,” she says. “But she's strong in spirits and she's ready to fight.”
Kayla has been named the grand marshal for the Cambridge Santa Claus Parade set to take place next Saturday.
Her family says while it may be complicated, they are working with her medical team to see if she can make it in person.
