Tournament of Hope

An all-female curling tournament has helped keep cancer victims close to home.

Thanks to funds raised through the Bearskin Airlines Hope Classic, The Linda Buchan Centre can now provide breast MRI scans at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. Patients used to have to go to major urban centres to get the imaging done said Health Sciences Centre’s diagnostics director, Joanne Lacourciere.

"By having this technology in Thunder Bay we’re able to keep our patients close to home and not disrupt their pathway to treatment," said at the 15th annual Hope Classic kick-off announcement Wednesday morning.

Buchan, who passed away in 2002, was a four-time cancer survivor. She was asked to start the event to help raise funds for breast cancer. So far the event, which runs Feb. 18 to 20, has raised $1.8 million, said Hope Classic chair Sue Childs.

Childs said she never has a fund raising goal in mind, other than the minimum $27,000 raised from the 64 teams competing in the five-game skins format. Childs said anything over that is a bonus.

"It isn’t about the curling it’s about the camaraderie and the friendships and just the energy in the room is absolutely phenomenal," she said.

Childs said with many of the participants being cancer survivor themselves, the tournament is also about getting together to beat cancer.