Young cancer patient Becca tells us what to do: be kind to someone

Riverview teen Becca Schofield has been fighting cancer for nearly two years, and despite recent bad news, has taken on a new campaign: to persuade people everywhere to perform an act of kindness.

The 17-year-old received the devastating news earlier this month that there are new tumours, and she began making a list of things she wants to do. Doctors say Becca has between three months and a year to live.

"We are crushed beyond imagination that our beautiful strong super hero will not win her battle with this horrible disease," her mother, Anne Schofield, wrote on her GoFundMe campaign page.

"[Becca] is writing a bucket list and we plan to help her fill as many wishes as we can."

Already on the list is Becca's goal of creating "a mass act of kindness."

"It can be as big or as small as you'd like," Becca said on Twitter. "Donate to charity, volunteer your time, or even just do the dishes without your parents asking.

"Do something to make someone smile and then tweet what you did under the hashtag #BeccaToldMeTo."

She hopes the hashtag will trend worldwide.

Hundreds of people are already posting about their good deeds in honour of Schofield, and Riverview Coun. Tammy Rampersaud calls Becca "our own personal Santa."

"I think inside of each one of us we want to do good ... so people are doing small things for others, and they're doing big things all in Becca's name and it's beautiful."

Rampersaud said she read about someone dropping off two large cakes to a nurses station at the hospital with #BeccaToldMeTo written in icing on top.

"What she has asked folks to do — it seems like something so small but it's not," Rampersaud told Information Morning Moncton. "We're all doing it in her name but I think she's a genius.

"What that's giving us is just incredible joy ... and then there are recipients, too, so I think she knew what she was doing when she asked this, and she's given us something really special."

People now giving back to Schofields

Rampersaud said it's hard to imagine what Becca and her family are going through and calls them "incredible people" for sharing their story.

Many people in Riverview are trying to give back to the Schofields, raising money to allow the family to spend Becca's final months together without financial worries.

Anne Schofield said she and her husband are taking leave from their jobs, while their other daughter is taking her next semester off.

"We will take every day as the gift that it is and fill it with love and laughter," Anne wrote.

"What she's put out there for all of us, it's a big lesson for us and I think it will stay with us for a long time," she said.