A West Quebec man who uses medical marijuana to ease the pain of a work accident, has raised funds for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario through a Facebook page he created to support others.
Dwayne Fox, who lives near the border of Grenville-Sur-La-Rouge and Brownsburg-Chatham, raised $912 from members and businesses through his Facebook page ‘Canadian Cannabis Grow Group’. The private page has attained more than 700 members in the three months since it was started by Fox.
The 39-year-old worked 20 years as a truck driver before being injured in a loading accident in December of 2018. Since then, he has been on a number of pain medications, including morphine and opioids, which had little effect on the pain he was suffering.
“There was a big risk of being dependent on the medication,” says Fox, who was encouraged last spring by an acquaintance to try medical marijuana.
Fox, who is a non-smoker, chose to try edible marijuana products and says that – much to his surprise – he obtained a great deal of relief and was able to resume some normal activities. His doctor has since authorized it as part of his treatment and he has received a license from Health Canada to grow his own product.
The $912 raised was donated to CHEO’s Make-A-Wish general fund. Fox wanted to give money to CHEO because as a child he suffered from cerebral palsy and learned how to walk through surgery and follow-up therapy at the hospital.
“When I was four years old, CHEO did a huge operation on my legs and that permitted me to walk like a normal person,” Fox said. “There is a huge place in my heart for CHEO.”
The medical marijuana advocate says he hopes that his Facebook page and story will help open eyes to the benefits of medical marijuana.
“Not everyone who uses marijuana are dopers or stoners – we’re good people,” said Fox, whose medical marijuana Facebook page has members from all over Canada. “We’re all like family and we’ve banded together for a good cause.”
