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UPDATE: Family has now raised $100,000 to aid Thornhill father
You can help at two upcoming events

YorkRegion.com
March 18, 2014
By Simone Joseph

Nadine Block dreams of a remission, a reprieve and eventually a cure for her father’s cancer.

To fight for her father’s life, the Thornhill resident used social media as her tool.

“We had to go to the public for help. We wanted to be quick and accessible to the public,” she said. “Social media, we knew, could capture people all over the world. There was no option, no hemming or hawing. There was no question about it.”

Her father, Kevin Block, was diagnosed with stage four non-hodgkin’s lymphoma in June of 2013. Following this diagnosis, the Thornhill resident endured various chemotherapies without success.

Mr. Block’s illness left him unable to work. As a result, he lost his business. He had been the owner of Sign-A-Rama franchise, specializing in custom-made signs.

The medication Mr. Block needs costs $12,500 per month and is part of a clinical medical trial only available in the United States. Ms Block hopes the medication will put her father into remission and stop the cancer cells from multiplying.

When Ms Block and brother Jamie, 17, received the devastating news that there was no cure for their father in Canada, they launched a social media campaign called Keeping Kev to fight for his life. They created Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts to share their father’s story.

Within minutes, people were liking, commenting and sharing the information about Mr. Block.

“It was amazing,” Ms Block said.

They raised $40,000 in the first three days. More and more people read and shared Keeping Kev. To date, more than $100,000 has been raised. Their ultimate goal is to raise $200,000.

The next step is to see how Mr. Block reacts to the medication, which he began taking in January.

The family now has the funds to pay for six months of drugs, Ms Block said.

Ms Block says while her father is on the medication for now, they are not sure how much longer he will be on it. The goal is for Mr. Block to go into remission, at which point he would stop taking the medication, but no one is sure how long this will take.

“It could take six months, it could take a year,” she said,

After this clinical trial, Ms Block hopes he can starts another one which will reveal a cure.

YOU CAN HELP:
Two coming events have been organized by the Keeping Kev campaign:

1) Keeping Kev at Switch Nightclub this Thursday, March 20. Go to http://switchtoronto.com/ for more information. The address is 55 Colborne St. Toronto. runs Thursday to Friday, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. 

2)Keeping Kev Silent Auction/Boutique Night May 8 at Petah Tikva Synagogue from 5 to 10 p.m. Go to http://www.petahtikva.ca for more information.

To donate:

For more information: www.facebook.com/keepingkev