Dad's loss inspires 'Wish' walk
Toolbox
By Susan Smallheer Herald Staff - Published: May 15, 2007
SPRINGFIELD — Richard Labrecque lost his 3-year-old daughter Nicole to a rare liver cancer 16 years ago.
For the sixth straight year, Labrecque is doing something with his profound grief: He's raising money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Vermont, so other seriously ill children can have a wish come true like his daughter.
Nicole's Walk has raised $70,000 in the past five years — $18,000 just last year from 200 participants, Labrecque said.
Nicole Labrecque died three days after she and her family returned from Disney World in 1991. The trip was a gift from the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
"The Make-A-Wish Foundation granted Nicole's wish to see Mickey Mouse in Disney World," he said Friday. "She spent a beautiful week having fun and for a few days, she was able to forget about the pain of surgeries and chemotherapy."
"It's priceless to see these kids have fun. Nicole was 3 years old and we were swept off our feet. I'm dedicated to this organization," he said Friday.
Labrecque, who turned 50 on May 6, has lived in Springfield for the last 20 years. A native of Lyndonville, he said some people in his hometown have adopted Nicole's Walk and are a major factor in the fund-raiser.
He said that the family had spent 10 months in Children's Hospital in Boston for treatment of her hepatoblastoma, he said, and her death actually came unexpectedly.
Labrecque said Nicole died of complications from the chemotherapy. The cancer treatment had damaged her heart.
He said the annual walk, which will be held this year on May 20 on the Toonerville Trail in Springfield, near the Robert S. Jones Industrial Center, starts at 9:30 a.m., and registration starts at 8:30 a.m.
Throughout the past five years, Labreque said, the walk has raised $70,000, which has gone to the Vermont Make-A-Wish Foundation to help other Vermont children.
The trail is 6.2 miles. Participants can walk, bike or roller skate as much as they want, he said.
"I can't thank everybody, but I hope they know I'm appreciative of their support," Labrecque said, noting that he personally sends out about 400 letters to people interested in the walk, and contacts many businesses in the Springfield, Bellows Falls, Ludlow and Chester region.
Labrecque said at the time of his daughter's illness, he was shocked at the number of severely ill children.
Labrecque said everyone who participates in the walk gets a purple T-shirt — purple because it was Nicole's favorite color.
For the past couple of years, Springfield schoolchildren have provided the art work on the T-shirt. He said two first-graders from Union Street School provided the winning designs — one for the front and one for the back.
This year's shirts will be printed next week, he said. "They feature my favorite stick people walking down a trail with their little water bottles," Labrecque said.
Labrecque said there is a sick little girl in Springfield who is involved in the Make-A-Wish Foundation, but he declined to identify her because of her family's privacy.
But according to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Vermont, the average cost of a child's wish is $10,000, including in-kind donations. One boy, who has cystic fibrosis, wanted to see the location of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings," so he went to the North Island of New Zealand.
For more information, people should call Labrecque at 885-5130, or contact the Make-A-Wish Foundation at www.makeawish.org.
Contact Susan Smallheer at susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com.
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