Hi - our names are Suzanne Bone and Amy Atkinson and we are helping our friend and colleague Elizabeth, at a time of urgent need. In Elizabeth's own words:

My name is Elizabeth Stewart, I’m 48 years young – in spirit, energy and physically.

However, in December 2025, my life changed in an instant.

I was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer: mucosal melanoma of the cervix — a devastating form of melanoma that few people have ever heard of, and one that moves frighteningly fast.

A CT scan on May 8th showed that the cancer has spread.

And yet, despite everything, I remain grounded in positivity and possibility, and I am full of hope.

There is a treatment that could give me a real chance to keep fighting.

But right now, that treatment is slipping out of reach because of time, geography, and cost.

I am asking for you to make an urgent donation today.

Funds are urgently needed in the coming weeks to fund a new break-through treatment that has the potential to save my life.

I Never Thought I Would Be the One Asking

I am a mother to an incredible son; he’ll be 13 in June. I’ve dedicated my career to mission-driven work to impact the lives of others in positive and meaningful ways. I’m an active community member through volunteerism. I am someone who has spent much of my life helping others.

I currently work at the University of Guelph with the development team supporting student athletes and experiential learning — helping develop the next generation of leaders and innovators. I had only reached three months in this new dream job when I received my diagnosis.

Prior to this, I worked for nearly a decade at The Foundation of Guelph General Hospital, leading community fundraising programs that raised nearly $20 million. These funds were critical to fund essential and innovative patient care equipment that advanced quality and speed of care so people within the community could access the healthcare they need close to home.

Unfortunately, the care I need is not yet available close to home. My only option is to receive treatment out of country.

I have spent years dedicated to helping other people.

I never in my wildest imagination thought I’d be asking for this kind of help for myself.

The Hardest Race of My Life

I am an athlete. For the past 16 years, endurance sports have been a major part of my life.

In October of 2024, I competed at the Triathlon World Championships and placed 15th in the world in my age group.

Even after my cancer diagnosis, I keep moving. I keep training. I keep fighting.

Because when I say I am fighting, I mean it with everything I have.

But this disease has moved faster than anyone hoped.

There were delays waiting for appointments, pathology, scans, and treatment plans. When immunotherapy finally began, there was hope it might be working — until my immune system severely attacked my liver, forcing treatment to pause.

During that pause, the cancer progressed.

Now, scans confirm metastatic disease in my liver and lungs.

But I am still here.

I am still strong.

And I will give everything I have in this race for my life.

The Treatment Exists — But Time Is Running Out

My care has been transferred to Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH), I’m receiving the absolute best care possible available here in Canada. I whole-heartedly trust my medical oncologist is doing everything he possibly can for me. He believes I am a strong candidate for an advanced treatment called TIL Therapy (Tumour-Infiltrating Lymphocyte Therapy). He was involved in the trials at PMH before they closed, he knows this therapy well.

This groundbreaking treatment uses a patient’s own immune cells to attack cancer. It has produced remarkable outcomes in some advanced melanoma patients — including patients who had already exhausted other options.

This treatment is real.

It exists.

It has been approved in the United States.

It has also received conditional approval by Health Canada.

But access in Canada is not yet available. The Ontario funding pathways are not moving at the speed my cancer requires.

My doctors have been clear:

TIL Therapy is the best next step for me. My window for TIL therapy is now.

I have an urgent consultation scheduled at the renowned Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa Bay Florida on June 3rd to explore TIL Therapy. My oncologist has advised the medical team at Moffitt that TIL therapy is my best treatment option.

I’m working with Moffitt’s International Patient Coordinator and already received the treatment quote. For TIL therapy at Moffitt Cancer Centre, for a self-funded Canadian patient, the total upfront funds needed is $1.7 million CAD.

Cancer does not wait for paperwork.

Cancer does not wait for funding approvals.

Cancer does not wait for bureaucracy.

Every day matters and I need to secure this funding in the coming weeks. If on June 3rd, the medical team at Moffitt confirms the same as my medical oncologist at PMH – that I am a strong candidate for TIL Therapy – the next step will be payment in full, before treatment can be scheduled and begin.

Right now, I am pursuing every possible funding pathway:

But the reality is simple: without additional urgent financial support, this life-saving opportunity may disappear before I can access it.

Your donation today will ensure the funding is available as soon as funds are needed so that there is zero delay in my treatment.

TIL Therapy is not an easy therapy to endure. To reduce risk of complications and ensure best possible outcomes, patients must remain as healthy as possible going into treatment and throughout the treatment process. I am doing everything I can to stay healthy through continued training, diet, sleep, meditation and spiritual practice.

But I can’t control the speed at which my cancer is advancing without a treatment option that I can tolerate right now due to the immunotherapy induced liver inflammation I am experiencing.

Why I Am Fighting So Hard

I am fighting because of my son.

He turns 13 next month.

Recently, I rode beside him during his first cycling time trial. Moments like that mean everything to me now in ways I cannot fully describe.

I am not ready for those moments to become memories he must carry without me.

I want to be there for his teenage years.

For graduations.

For heartbreaks and victories.

For all the ordinary moments that mothers are supposed to have with their children.

I am fighting for more time.

More memories.

More life.

I am also fighting hard to hang on to my vision of more many more years in mission-driven work and a retirement committed to community service. I have so much more of myself that I want to give to help others.

Please Help Me Fight For My Life

If you can donate — no matter the amount — it would mean more than I can ever express. All funds raised will go to fund the TIL therapy. Once I have additional cost information from Moffitt Cancer Centre, I'll provide an update.

Please make a donation right now through Go Fund Me or contact Suzanne Bone or Amy Atkinson directly to discuss a significant pledge.

Suzanne Bone: suzannelpbone at gmail dot com

Amy Atkinson: aeatkin04 at gmail dot com

If you are part of the local triathlon, running or cycling community and would like to play a role in outreach, please contact Angela Hofstra or Nicole Gatto.

Angela Hofstra: angelahhofstra at gmail dot com

Nicole Gatto: nicole dot gatto62 at gmail dot com

If you cannot donate, please share my story widely.

Share it with friends.

Family.

Healthcare professionals.

Media contacts.

Organizations.

I will graciously accept any and all help from anyone who may help open a door before time closes it.

I am fighting with everything I have, but this is so much bigger than anything I have ever faced. I need your help today.

With gratitude and unwavering hope,

Elizabeth Stewart

What will I do with donations if OHIP comes through for me?

My ultimate hope is that OHIP will come through for me to fund my entire treatment. In this best-case scenario, we will give you the option of cancelling your pledge/ refunding your online donation OR redirecting your contribution to either a fund that can be used to help people in our local Guelph community access healthcare-related devices, services and prescriptions that they otherwise could not afford on their own, or a cancer-related charity. I would like nothing more than to not have to use donations for my own personal use - it feels unnatural to me. Redirecting your support to help others would be a meaningful and healing outcome to this unimaginable adversity.