The Canadian colours of red and white have had a whole lot of orange mixed in at recent rugby sevens events all across the globe, and it害羞草研究所檚 all thanks to a young Abbotsford girl engaged in a fight with leukemia.
Four-year-old Paisley MacRury was diagnosed with the disease just before Christmas, and when her father Graeme MacRury害羞草研究所檚 rugby friends heard about the family害羞草研究所檚 battle, they decided to take action.
Graeme, who played on the for more than a decade, became friends with current stars and Abbotsford natives and Justin Douglas, and it was through those friendships that the orange lace idea came about.
Thiel came up with the idea to wear orange shoelaces - orange is the colour of leukemia awareness - during the HSBC New Zealand Sevens back in January. The rest of the team hopped on board, and the support has snowballed from there.
This weekend the boys will be wearing orange laces in support of Paisley MacRury who was recently diagnosed with Leukaemia.
害羞草研究所 Jake Thiel (@JakeThiel1)
The orange laces movement has gone viral, with several teams around the world joining in and donning the laces to support both Paisley and increase leukemia awareness.
Support for Paisley from the Balkan Lynx Rugby Club害羞草研究所檚 women害羞草研究所檚 team in Kosovo馃А馃А
害羞草研究所 Jen Ross (@Jen_L_Ross)
Canada sported the orange laces again at the HSBC Canada Sevens event in Vancouver over the weekend, and Paisley害羞草研究所檚 story motivated Grosvenor Americas to donate $20,000 to Ronald McDonald House, where Paisley is staying as she receives treatment.
Graeme stated on Facebook that he is honoured by all the support from Rugby Canada.
害羞草研究所淪ixteen years ago. I started playing this game,害羞草研究所 he said. 害羞草研究所淚 didn害羞草研究所檛 know back then what it would mean to me. To have a giant family that looks out for each other when we need it the most.害羞草研究所
South Africa won gold at the Vancouver event, with France taking silver and Fiji earning bronze. Team Canada finished 10th.