For our 17th year of Gregorpalooza, our recipient is an incredible young woman named Sandra Lefefvre. Though not originally from Elliot Lake, Sandra and her husband Mike have lived and worked in Elliot Lake for over six years. Sandra is a registered nurse at St Joseph General Hospital and Mike is a local paramedic. They are thirty-two and thirty-four years old respectively and they are the proud parents of two children, Antonio who is fourteen years old and Lorenzo who is four.
Mike and Sandra’s love story began in Sudbury at a MacDonald’s restaurant. They were both shift managers and they were very quickly drawn to each other. After that, it was always Mike and Sandra; they were young and they were in love. In 2010, their bond became even stronger as they welcomed their first son Antonio into the world. In the years that followed, despite being young parents, they both worked their way through school and both earned professions in the challenging and noble world of health care.
In 2019, they endeavoured to find a quieter place to raise Antonio and they made the choice to move to Elliot Lake. This decision, as everyone who knows them can attest, made our community better. Since then, the people of Elliot Lake have been able to live a little bit healthier and safer with Sandra and Mike working in our town. By 2021, Mike and Sandra were both established professionals and they decided to have their second child, a boy named Lorenzo. They were truly an incredible success story and a young family that Elliot Lake could be proud of.
As with every year that I write this article, I sincerely wish I could end this story here.
Unfortunately however, in March of this year, Sandra discovered a small, toonie sized lump on the side of her breast. After a mammogram, on April 3rd, doctors informed Sandra that she had breast cancer. Even worse, the scans that followed revealed the devastating news that the cancer was not localized to her breast but had spread to multiple lymph nodes and to her liver. This meant that she had stage four breast cancer and that surgery and radiation would not be treatment options.
To say that the months since this diagnosis have been a whirlwind would be a dramatic understatement. In this time, Sandra and Mike have had to travel to Princess Margaret hospital in Toronto for potential treatments as well as frequent trips to Sudbury for countless scans and appointments. This is on top of undergoing intensive chemotherapy to systematically treat her various cancers and raising their young children. 2025 has brought more challenges for the Marconatos than anyone should have to face in their lifetimes.
This, once again, is where we come in. It is a fact, fighting cancer costs money. Not only that, it also diminished your ability to make money. Luckily, that’s what we’re here for. Just like we have sixteen times before, it is time for us to all step up and do everything we can to help one of our own in her time of need. It has never been more important for us, as Elliot Lakers, to do what we do best. Make donations, get your friends to make donations, buy tickets, buy T-shits. Please do everything you can to show Sandra that we have her back, she deserves it.
Despite everything she has been through, Sandra remains optimistic. When I asked her what has been the hardest part of all of this, her response was that it was the uncertainty. “I do not know if I will get to grow old or watch my children grow. All I know is that I must wake up everyday and fight, to cherish every moment I can with my loved ones.” Well Sandra and Mike, you are not alone in this fight. From this point forward, know that you have the full weight of the entire Gregorpalooza army behind you and we're going to everything we can to make sure you have many, many more moments to cherish with your loved ones. You’ve got this.