The past several years, Kelowna residents have been able to enter a house of horrors put on by a local man, and this year is no different.
Paul Coxe puts on a small but mighty haunted house every year, known as the Grenfell Road Haunted House, using the opportunity to collect donations for the local food bank while providing some spooky entertainment.
He usually puts the project on by himself, but this year he’s got some extra helping hands due to a medical condition. Coxe suffers from a chronic autoimmune disease called Myasthenia Gravis, which is characterized by rapid fatigue of the voluntary muscles.
His condition has become progressively worse, says friend Clarence Johnson, and he is now unable to work. He’s hoping that the community will help out Coxe and his family, as Coxe has done a lot to benefit Kelowna.
A GoFundMe has been started for Coxe, as he will be starting treatments for his disease this month, and may have to continue them every month for the rest of his life.
“Paul was diagnosed in 2012 with this disease and with meds it kept it under control with no other symptoms,” reads the GoFundMe, started by a good friend of Coxe. “Then early one morning in March Paul told me I needed to take him to emergency as he thought he was having a heart attack.”
“After many visits to emergency and seeing so many specialists and lots of tests we were finally able to get into the Neurologist who ran more tests and realized his Myasthenia Gravis was taking over his body. They tried upping his medicine to control the disease, but meds aren't enough.”
On Oct 16th, 17th and 18th Paul is scheduled for 5 hours on each of those days to have IVIG treatments at the hospital. If the treatment is successful, he will need them monthly.
Despite his poor health, Coxe is still helping put together the haunted house because of his desire to help those less fortunate.
Last year’s haunted house brought in 4,500 pounds of food and $2,400 in cash for the local food bank. This year, the team helping Coxe out is hoping to make the house bigger and better than every.
Johnson says that they’re aiming for more scares, and more donations. He adds that this year, they even have a real coffin that will be included in the house.
Click here to contribute to the GoFundMe campaign. Click here for more information on this year’s haunted house.
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