'Olliebots' help Antigonish boy fight rare bone cancer

Oliver Smith is a shy 10-year-old Nova Scotia boy who loves hockey, but when he was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer, he transformed his personal battle into something bigger.

Enter the Olliebots.

The cheerful bots built of wood blocks and hockey laces draw inspiration from the Transformers of cartoon and movie fame led by the good-guy Autobots.But the Olliebotsare helping Oliver fight not the evil Decepticons, but Ewing sarcoma, an aggressive and painful cancer that attacks bones or soft tissue.

They sell for $20 and some of that money will go to theEwingsCancer Foundation of Canadaand some to help other kids in the area who need to travel to Halifax or further for medical treatment, as Oliver did.

Oliver had been dealing with a sore leg for about a year, but the Antigonish boy figured he'd hurt it playing sports.

"He plays hockey and softball. We were treating it like a sports injury and it would come and go," saidBryan Smith, his father. "He started to not feel good at nighttime, waking up through the night, and that got us back to the doctor."

On Valentine's Day 2017, the Smiths learned Oliver had Ewing sarcoma in his hip. A hard spring and summer of chemotherapy and radiation treatment followed. In August, as the family awaited a post-treatment evaluation, they looked for useful ways to keep busy.

Facebook loves the Olliebots

"He's really active, and we didn't know how active he was going to be once we got his final evaluation. I was looking for something for us to do outside of the normal physical activity we take part in," Bryan Smith said.

Smith enjoys working with wood and together with a friend cut the first two Olliebots and added stickers for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Oliver's favourite team. "I surprised Oliver with them one morning and he thought they were neat."

Others thought they were neat, too, and what was a fun family project turned into a fundraiser."It kind of exploded once it hit Facebook," Bryan Smith said.

They got orders for 50 Olliebots that first night and now have 310 orders. They've made 200 and spent Friday morning preparing the wood for another 100. Most come with an NHL logo, or a local team. A staff member of the Pittsburgh Penguins sent helmet decals, as did a person with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Oliver met Sidney Crosby, another shy Nova Scotian boy who loves hockey, when he visited the hospital this summer.Oliver is sending the Cole Harbour native an Olliebot in thanks.

Oliver says his favourite Autobot is Bumblebee. Fittingly, he's not the strongest or most powerful Autobot, but makes up for it with luck, determination and bravery much like Oliver.

'A moment of braveness'

"He's been very brave many times over the last year. He finds his courage in himself, I think," his father said.

Oliver saidhe used "a moment ofbraveness" to get through the tough treatments this spring and summer.

"It's been a bit scary, because [people] are wanting to talk to me, and I'm not used to that. I want to crawl into a corner and hide," Oliver said.

His advice to other kids in his situation:"Just do it and then it's over."

This fall, doctors gave Oliver the green light to resume his active life. Last weekend, he laced up to play right wing for the Antigonish Atom AA Bulldogs in the Mike Schmitt Memorial tournament.

"We lost in the finals," he said. "Apparently the Bulldogs have like a jinx. The high-level teams can't win this tournament. We went into this game saying we were going to break the jinx and we lost 7-1."

They did take the silver medal. They also took a lot of Olliebots orders, more signs of the deep local support the family received this year. "These little things that pop up are pretty special. These people know Oliver and he's a pretty special kid. They want to help out," his father said.

Teaching tools

Smith, a teacher, says another teacher used an Olliebot for a "kindness lesson."

Kids love them, too.

"I know, talking with some parents, that they're able to have some conversations with their own kids about what it's for," Bryan Smith said.

"We think it's pretty special that Oliver has been able to bring a lot of attention not only to the Olliebot, but also to the thought behind it, which was to bring some attention to Ewing sarcoma," saidhis mother, Shauna.

That's helped people understand just how tough a year the family went through.

"It was maybe not so nice for them to have to read about it, but it was nice for us to know that we were succeeding in our vision of what the Olliebot would do," she said.