Our #HopeArmy 2020 Design Contest Winner is James Tilley of Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia

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James was inspired by his father-in-law, Stephen's, vision.  Stephen was diagnosed with lung cancer in July 2020. 

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In Stephen's words: 

"We always think of cancer in a negative way— after all, it kills. How can you possibly see a silver lining in a killer? Well, there is one: it is hope. Hope is what research, years of work, drug development, and oncologists give many lung cancer patients now in Canada. One may have hope for tomorrow, some for many years. Hope is good news when one finds themselves in a bad place.

The image shows an outline of a pair of lungs. The roots of a tree with a chrysalis attached soften the image and make it a more organic representation of the human situation. The chrysalis represents lung cancer— it is dark and mysterious. The Monarch butterfly has hatched out of the chrysalis. How can such beauty come from this cloak of death? Life is renewed as the butterfly readies itself for flight, freedom and living again. Its life is not over, it is on another journey of discovery. 

The Monarch Butterfly is poison to its predators.  Its spectacular color is a signal to its predators to leave it alone.  It dines on Milk Weed which causes the caterpillar and all other stages of development to become poisonous. Yet the poison works as a benefit to the butterfly. As lung cancer survivors, treatment is much the same for us. Our medications, forms of targeted poisons, work to our benefit to extend our lives."