By Courtney Markewich

Regina father hopes extended federal benefits will help more families

Apr 24, 2015 | 12:04 PM

A Regina father hopes the federal budget’s extention of the compassionate care benefit will give other families the same support as his had during his son’s battle with leukemia. 

Terrance Williamson’s son Lucian was diagnosed with leukemia when he was just six months old. Lucian lost his battle last summer when he was two years old. Thanks to donations given to the family, Terrance and his wife, Kelsi, were able to be with Lucian throughout his fight.

“It was a wonderful thing that people were so compassionate towards us, that they were able to donate money towards us and stuff so that we could be there with him.”

Donations came in through a Facebook page that Terrance and Kelsey set up to provide people with updates on Lucian.

“We just decided to start the page to chronical his journey cause everyone was asking, ‘how is Lucian doing?’ … and I think that is one of the main reasons there was so much support behind us.”

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Terrance says it was a blessing that his family didn’t have the added stress of worrying about finances during Lucian’s hospital stays. He saw many other families with sick children having to leave their kids to go to work, and he knows that it’s not always easy to accept donations.

“It sounds strange to say it’s hard to take charity but in some sense, it is. Cause you want to provide for your family … but if the government steps in, it doesn’t feel like you’re taking charity.”

The Williamson family didn’t qualify for the compassionate care benefit because throughout most of Lucian’s illness, he was responding to treatment.

Tuesday’s federal budget put an additional $37 million towards the compassionate care benefits under employment insurance. Starting Jan. 1, 2016, people who are caring for gravely-ill relatives can take up to six months off work instead of the current six weeks.

Terrance said the increase is wonderful to see, and he hopes it allows other families to be together during these delicate times.

“It was really a blessing because you got to be with him and we didn’t have to worry about finances. We didn’t have that extra stress in our life worrying about how we’re going to pay the bills … we didn’t have to think about that once. We just had to be a family. We got to support each other.”

panews@jpbg.ca

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