My Hollow heroes

June 14, 2018 · 0 Comments

Written By SCOTT TAYLOR

There’s a certain sense of “one of these things is not like the other” when you think of a fundraiser for a little girl suffering with cystic fibrosis and a heavy metal band. But the truth is the unlikely friendship has taken root and with the girl and her family in need, the band is trying to come to the rescue.

Full disclosure, 11-year-old Peyton is a relative of a band member, but one gets the impression these guys would help all the same.

“We classify ourselves under the broad umbrella of heavy metal,” drummer and Bolton resident Angelo Giammattolo said. “We’ve been together for 12 years . . . and we stood the test of time, even though some of the members got married or had some kids or whatever. I’ve seen a lot of bands crumble under that type of individual pressure, but our band is standing the test of time.”

The fact My Hollow is a working band, which is to say they score plenty of paid gigs, record music and produce videos, makes it easier for the guys to keep it going, even with family responsibilities.

“We have quite a few shows coming up right now. We have 10 shows coming up in the next few months, but most notably we have the charity show for Peyton’s Journey. The Rockpile is donating the venue to us on Saturday, June 30, and all proceeds are going directly to Peyton, who has cystic fibrosis. We’re going to be making Peyton’s Journey T-shirts with all the proceeds from that going directly to her. At the show we’re going to have five bands, lots of raffles. Lots of people are donating; we have already over $2,000 worth of value of gifts to raffle off, so we’re really trying to push that show.”

The boys in the band learned about Peyton’s Go Fund Me page and knew they had to help. “We really wanted to kind of jump on board.”

They’ll add a second fundraising show in London at the Old East Bar and Grill Sept. 7.

“The poor girl. She’s always in and out of the hospital, especially recently,” Giammattolo said. “She has a hard time breathing and the government doesn’t cover the cost of a lot of things and she’s in Sick Kids quite often. She’s been in there for three months at a time, and then out. She’s a very active little girl. She lives on a farm and she has horses and actually we went o her farm and did a photo shoot with her. We’re just trying to direct as much traffic and attention to her Go Fund Me page as possible right now to help her and the family.

That page doesn’t hold back in describing what conditions are like for the family.

“Due to complications to Peyton’s CF, she has required multiple inpatient admissions to Children’s Hospital in London. On other admissions the family has had to go to Toronto for care. During these stays, there is a huge financial burden on the family. They have to pay for things on their own: parking, accommodations, food, and miscellaneous items. Along with this, they still pay all the regular household bills.

“Peyton deals with a lot of health issues associated with cystic fibrosis on a daily basis. She requires medication and physio multiple times a day to help with her breathing and to clear mucus from her lungs. Every time Peyton eats during the day she takes Cotayzmes, a medication which aids in digesting her fat, protein and sugar as her pancreas doesn’t produce enzymes. Peyton also takes multiple vitamins, iron and extra supplements of vitamin A and D daily. Three times a week she has to take Azithromycin to help prevent further infections. Every evening Peyton has to have a shot of insulin, due to CF-related diabetes. While Peyton is sleeping she is hooked up every night to a feeding pump that gives her enough calories to maintain her weight.

“Due to Peyton’s age and location of the transplant unit, Peyton and her family will soon need to relocate temporarily to a location close to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. The first time will be for a three-week assessment. During this time the transplant team would assess her health, to see if Peyton is eligible to be put on the transplant waiting list for a double lung transplant.”

The Toronto show starts at 7 p.m. The Rockpile is located at 5555 Dundas St. West.

To visit Peyton’s Go Fund Me page, log on to www.gofundme.com/peytons-cf-journey-medical-fund.

You can check out My Hollow on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.