Yorkton firefighters run Queen City Marathon to raise funds for local teen battling cancer

A group of firefighters from Yorkton took part in the Queen City Marathon to support a young Yorktonian battling cancer. Fruzsina De Cloedt reports.

A few weeks ago, firefighters from the Yorkton Fire Protective Services participated in the Queen City Marathon to raise funds for a local teen battling with cancer.

“We found out from a friend, they had something on Facebook,” firefighter Cody Doll told CTV News. “Then we kind of reached out to Eathan’s mom and just went from there.”

Yorkton firefighters have been running the marathon every year in support of their community. In 2025, it was for 15-year-old Eathan Petralba.

“If he can go through what he’s going through as a kid, why can’t we run a marathon in support of him? And show that we support him, as well as the community here does as well,” Doll explained.

Eathan was diagnosed with Stage-4 lymphoma two years ago.

“So, we were in Yorkton for five days in the hospital there,” Eathan’s mother, Jhunisa said. “Because it’s very rare and it’s hiding in the blood works. It’s not showing any signs of cancer.”

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Eathan was then transported to Regina and underwent surgery, but things were not looking good.

“He got septic and was very sick. So, they sent us to Saskatoon Children’s Hospital and they did another test, their own tests. They found it was that type of cancer.”

According to Jhunisa, there are only about a 100 people who have this particular variation.

“He had six cycles of chemotherapy. He had seven major surgeries,” Jhunisa explained. “I can’t count how many minor surgeries he had [in] two years.”

Eathan’s treatments didn’t allow him to live the normal life of a teenager.

“My first move in Saskatoon was last year, and it was pretty hard for me having to move away from my friends because I’ve lived in Yorkton ... for most of my entire life,” Eathan told CTV News over Zoom.

As a result, his recent remission has brought new challenges with it.

“I’ve been off school for like two years, so coming back to school after a long time, it was overwhelming, and I was pretty nervous,” Eathan said. “But then at the same time, I was like excited because I haven’t experienced it in a long time.”

The cost of frequent trips to the hospital quickly added up, so the family took it to social media to find help from their community.

This is where the Doll and the rest of the fire crew learnt about Eathan’s situation.

“We got a lot of support from the community as well as businesses and individuals. The Good Spirit community chipped in as well,” Doll told CTV News. “Got a lot of local support here, which is a nice thing.”

Doll and fellow firefighter James McConnell completed the marathon, and their efforts raised $4,000.

“We’re so happy with our community in Yorkton,” Jhunisa revealed. “Since from the start, when he’s got sick, there’s lots of support from our community in Yorkton and so many people that have reached out to us, helping us and supporting us. […] Thank you to all the people in Yorkton.”

September marks Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and Jhunisa says she would like to raise awareness – given the battles her son has had to fight.

“I’m also telling all the parents that if your child isn’t feeling well or if they have fever for a week or more, trust your instincts,” she said.

“If there’s something is wrong with [your] kid, take them to the doctor.”