Manitoba's first-ever Champion Child from a remote First Nation

For the first time ever, the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba has selected a Champion Child from a remote northern community.

Janessa Dumas Colomb is a 15-year-old from Mathias Colomb Cree Nation in Pukatawagan.

She was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney disease by the age of seven and later underwent a kidney transplant in 2020.

Recognizing the need to be closer to Manitoba’s only children’s hospital, Dumas Colomb’s parents moved her family 800 kilometres to live in Winnipeg.

“I’m sharing my story so you know my journey is not just about the health care needed, but the distance I went to get that health care, and how important the Children’s Hospital is to all the kids in our province,” Dumas Colomb said at a news conference on Thursday.

As the 2024 Manitoba Champion Child, Dumas Colomb becomes an ambassador for the HSC’s Children’s Hospital and will spend the year advocating for children’s hospitals across the country.

She will attend several speaking events this year to share her story, and will work to raise funds for the Children’s Hospital.

“The doctors, nurses and child life specialists at the Children’s Hospital are my heroes too,” she said.

“They did such a great job on helping me get well that I got to go home.”

The Children’s Hospital Foundation said that choosing Dumas Colomb as this year Champion Child highlights the barriers children in remote communities face when accessing health care.