12 year-old Blake Wheeler from Saskatoon has been named the 2019 Jim Pattison Children Hospital Foundation’s Champion Child ambassador.  Blake along with his twin brother Noah were born 14 weeks premature and both were rushed to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit shortly after birth as heart murmurs were detected in both of the newborns.  Sadly, Noah passed away from heart surgery.

Blake then spent the next four months on ventilators, feeding tubes and IV lines and it wasn’t until 110 days later that Blake was able healthy enough to come home.

12 year-old Blake says he’s most looking forward to traveling to Orlando, Florida later this year where other champion kids and their families will meet and have an opportunity to see Walt Disney World.

Blake will represent sick and injured Saskatchewan children at various events throughout 2019 including the opening of the new Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon which is expected to open in the fall.

Blake takes over from 10 year-old Payton Sernick of Estevan, a pediatric cancer patient who just recently returned home after nearly a year of treatment in Alberta.