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This weekend the @RugbyCanada boys will be wearing orange laces in support of Paisley MacRury who was recently diagnosed with Leukaemia. pic.twitter.com/1kh2vIV1dc — Jake Thiel (@JakeThiel1) January 25, 2019

An orange ribbon promotes leukemia awareness. Paisley, who is almost five, was diagnosed Dec. 18.

“She’s doing fairly well,” Graeme MacRury, her father, said in an interview. “She’s getting a little bit better. She’s off the first-month cycle (of drugs) which is very, very hard on them, especially for little girls. They don’t seem to deal with the steroids that they get very well. But she seems to be doing pretty well.

“She’s a little sad about how her hair is falling out and how her face has kind of gotten swollen. And one of the side effects is also depression from the drugs and the steroids. But she’s off of it and it’s kind of working its way out and we’re seeing a little bit of our daughter again.”

Graeme MacRury was teammates with Thiel and fellow sevens international Justin Douglas at Abbotsford RFC. Thiel, whose family is close to the MacRurys, came up with the idea and started wearing the orange laces earlier this month at the South America Rugby Sevens while playing for the Canada Maple Leafs development team.

All of the Canadian team will follow suit this weekend in Hamilton, New Zealand, the third stop of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.

The rugby team’s support may not have quite registered with young Paisley, who is more interested in “walking her unicorn,” according to her father.

“She does love rugby. And she did get to see herself on TV last night (on a CBC newscast),” said Graeme. “I think she might have a little idea, but not the full grasp of it.”