dEBra Canada President Jocelyn Maggs (Alex Melkic's Mom)
releases a butterfly in his memory

Cambridge, Ontario – As the group gathered in the conservatory with small triangular boxes in hand, the mood was torn between somber thoughts of the death of a brave Guelph boy and the spectacle sights and sounds of a tropical rainforest. On October 29 at 2pm a group of supporters from the community gathered at the Wing of Paradise Butterfly Conservatory for a unique memorial for Alex Melkic. One…Two…Three…Release. It was a beautiful sight, as hundreds of colourful butterflies flew into the air being released out of their boxes as a symbolic representation of EB children. EB children are known as "Butterfly Children" as their skin is described as being as fragile as a butterflies wings.Alex’s Wings of Hope was a huge success in many different ways. On August 23, 2005, Alex Melkic passed away from complications of a rare genetic skin disorder called Epidermolysis Bullosa, also known as EB. On Saturday over 60 people, consisting of family, friends and supporters from the community, paid their respects to Alex and helped inform hundreds of this terrible disorder which so tragically took Alex’s life. Adding to the success of day was the media that was present to cover the event. dEBra Canada has struggled for years to inform the community of their cause and on Saturday this goal was pushed to a whole new level. The attractive silent auction items were a huge hit to the participants and their generous contributions adding to the money raised for dEBra Canada.

Calum Wilson of Stoney Creek attends,
our newest EB baby

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