A local boy is looking to give back to the Canadian Hemophilia Society's Alberta chapter.

Nine-year-old Nicklas Radke of Okotoks is one of approximately 3000 Canadians living with hemophilia, a condition that prevents blood from clotting, meaning minor injuries can become much more serious and internal bleeding can often occur with very little cause.

"One day he just said 'mom, I want to do a fundraiser for the Hemophilia Society,' and I said 'oh really? What do you want to do?' He said 'I want to give them money,' and he came up with an amount. He wants to raise $400."

The Canadian Hemophilia Society advocates and provides support for Canadians living with the condition, as well as parents whose kids have been diagnosed.

Andrea says they will likely play a big role in the rest of Nicklas' life.

"They have a camp where kids learn to infuse the medication themselves. Right now I am doing it for Nicklas but I am hoping that he can attend camp in the summer, which is about five days. Nurses are provided and they teach kids to do IV infusion of their mediation for themselves. Once they are able to do that they have a much better quality of life, are much less dependent on us, they have more freedom."

The severe nature of Nicklas' hemophilia means he wasn't able to continue playing hockey, though he's recently gotten into baseball and plans to try out for the Okotoks Outlaws soon.

nicklas plans to try out for the okotoks outlaws

Given how few Albertans live with hemophilia, contrasted with the work the society does to advocate for those people, Andrea says this kind of fundraising doesn't happen as often as it should.

After Nicklas' suggestion of fundraising, the family did some brainstorming and decided they would start collecting bottles in order to donate the proceeds.

Andrea says the recent cold front will probably work in their favour, since many residents will likely be glad to hand over their recycling in order to save them a voyage into the cold.

They've also started a GoFundMe page for direct donations and will be forwarding the bottle money to the page so that the dollar total on the page reflects the total amount raised.

Anyone wanting to donate bottles and cans can contact Andrea on her Facebook page.

Andrea is grateful to live in Canada, where blood clotting factor treatments are so widely available.

Though Nicklas is still learning to live with his condition, he's already grateful for the people helping him along the way.

"They've done a lot for us, I just wanted to give back to them."