Local philanthropist Jeneece Edroff was invited as a special guest to two events with the royal couple, including Monday’s reception at Government House.
“It’s a thank-you for what I do and I appreciate that,” said Edroff, 22, who is most-known as the kid who started a penny drive to help others and raised millions. She has also endured neurofibromitosis, a disease that causes tumours to grow on the spine, since she was a toddler. Her firsthand knowledge of spending much of her life in hospitals inspired Jeneece Place, a refuge for families of hospital patients that was named after her.
Edroff was among youth leaders in Vancouver Sunday to meet Prince William and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, and Prime Minister Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau.
“I talked to Prince Will. He asked about my medals and noticed the one from the Queen’s Jubilee,” said Edroff, who received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal in 2012. She is also a member of the Order of B.C. and is in the Terry Fox Hall of Fame.
Edroff said meeting the royal couple is a bright spot in a difficult time.
“I have tumours growing and pressing on things,” she said, as she waits for news about being accepted into a new drug trial for treatment. If not accepted, she will have chemotherapy. “I just want to get things dealt with so I can go back to normal life.”
For Edroff, that means living each day to the fullest — including meeting the royal couple.
“I hope I get a photo to show my friends,” she said.
