7-year-old son of Langham’s mayor battling stage 4 lymphoma

It’s been a harrowing two weeks for the family of Langham Mayor John Hildebrand.

On August 16, just days after his seventh birthday, Hildebrand’s son Caleb was taken to the emergency room.

Within a week doctors discovered the boy had tumours, believed to be a result of his immune system being suppressed following a heart transplant as an infant.

Family friend Rebecca VanderKooi used Facebook to relay messages from the family about Caleb’s condition.

“They didn’t know what type of tumours they were so they did surgery on Monday,” VanderKooi told 650 CKOM. “Got the results on Wednesday that it is stage four lymphoma.”

She said Caleb began treatment right away at the Children’s Hospital in Edmonton.

As she continued to post updates VanderKooi said people began to ask her how they could help or donate to the Hildebrand family, so she started a GoFundMe campaign.

“It has been overwhelming,” she said of the support.

“The amount of people who are donating and the amount of names that I have no recognition of is more than what I would expect,” VanderKooi said after the first few days of the campaign.

She set the fundraising goal at $15,000 to give some relief to the family.

VanderKooi explained it’s too soon to tell what kind of aftercare Caleb will need and said he has two other siblings with medical needs.

“Caleb is a wonderful boy, he is so smart and funny. He is very special,” she said.

In the latest update on the GoFundMe page, VanderKooi said Caleb is responding well to treatment.

A Langham business, Three Beans Cafe is also raising money for the family with Cupcakes for Caleb.