Essentia Lights up Atrium for Childhood Cancer Awareness

DULUTH, Minn. – Doctors, patients, and families gathering in the atrium at Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center to shine a light on childhood cancer awareness month in a brand new way.

The hospital kicked off the event with an inaugural lighting up of the lakeside of the building for the first time with the color blue, chosen by young cancer survivor Catherine Frederickson. The bright blue color will light up the atrium until 11 p.m. each evening for a week to represent Frederickson’s treatment completion ceremony.

“I think the biggest thing is that when people look at this building and they see that things are lit up, they’re going to look and say, something great happened in that building, or something really important happened in that building today,” said Dr. Ross Perko, pediatric oncologist at Essentia Health.

The event is meant to celebrate and bring awareness for those who beat cancer, those who are just beginning their fight with cancer, and those who have passed.

“It’s really nice to see a place that I’ve spent, like, a year of my life, and like remembering me and like acknowledging my journey and stuff,” said Koren Sjelin, cancer survivor.

Essentia plans to continue lighting the atrium for every pediatric oncology patient moving forward to show hope and spread positivity.