Local artist helps toddler with donation of lifesize Grinch

LEAMINGTON — A long friendship has brought a Leamington man’s artistic creation into the hands of Toronto Maple Leafs superstar, Auston Matthews.

The Leamington retiree — and avid Maple Leafs fan — Frank Silveira, has been keeping busy during the COVID pandemic, creating various colourful cartoon characters in his garage.

Now, through a charitable set of circumstances, one of Silveira’s masterpieces has found its way to Scotiabank Arena, where it was recently signed by Auston Matthews.

Last fall, Frank started creating different characters from plywood and then hand-drawing and hand painting them for friends.

“It all started with a Detroit Tigers cartoon and blossomed from there,” he said.

Silveira then tackled Dr. Seuss’ Grinch and had one finished for the side of his house just in time for the holidays.

He jokingly offered to make a Grinch wearing a Detroit Red Wings jersey, but then opted to create one with a Maple Leafs jersey, namely number 34.

EMMETT GERVASON

Former co-worker and longtime friend, Dave Gervason, who lives in Chatham, wanted a Leafs Grinch and Silveira delivered the first one to him after Christmas.

Then a light-bulb went on.

Gervason was telling him about his grandson, Emmett, who was in need of a life-changing surgery, for which they were launching a GoFundMe campaign.

The pair decided to see if a Grinch wearing Matthews’ jersey would get the attention of the Maple Leafs.

Last week, after waiting with baited breath, Silveira got confirmation that Auston Matthews had indeed signed his Grinch.

Auston Matthews signing Silveira's Leafs Grinch.

Photo submitted.

The Grinch will now be returned to Emmett’s parents in Pelham, Ontario, where they will auction it off to raise funds for their GoFundMe campaign, called ‘An Ear for Emmett.’

Emmett was born with Microtia, which is a congenital affliction affecting his right ear. About one in 10,000 babies born have Microtia, so it’s a rare condition that severely hampers his hearing. As with many children born with Microtia, Emmet also has Atresia, which is the absence or closure of the external ear canal.

As a result, Emmett cannot hear out of that ear.

His parents, Aaron and Amanda, have plans to take him to California this summer for life-altering surgery.

The treatment available in Canada, called the Nagata method, is very invasive and requires several surgeries to rebuild the ear canal, including rib grafting from the patient. It’s normally not performed until the patient is 10-12 years old.

“I’ve spoken to adults who had that done as a child and they said they wouldn’t put their child through that,” said Emmett’s mom, Amanda, last week.

The California surgery, called the Medpor procedure, is considerably less invasive and is only one surgery. The problem is, that OHIP will not cover any of the costs of the procedure, so the family has been fundraising since January.

Frank Silveira at his Point Pelee Drive home with Cindy-Lou Who and Max.

Sun photo.

The cost of the operation and required stay in California post-surgery, is estimated to be around $250,000. The Gervasons have already raised about $178,000 on their GoFundMe page, called ‘An Ear for Emmett.’

“We’ve hit a huge milestone with the GoFundMe, but we’re not quite there yet,” said Amanda.

Emmett will turn three on June 26 and the surgery is booked for July 29.

The Grinch made by Leamington’s Frank Silveira promises to add to the total, with plans to auction it off in the near future.

For young Emmett Gervason, this reconstructive surgery will be life-altering. He will gain hearing in the right ear that he has yet to experience and once recovered, it’s expected that he will get back to life as a toddler, with a little extra help from his friends, like Frank Silveira and the countless donors from the GoFundMe campaign.

“We’re so thankful to everyone who has donated,” said Amanda. “It shows how good this world is with this COVID thing. This is a little bit of light instead of the negativity.”

With Silveira being a Leafs’ fan, he was delighted that Matthews took the time to sign his work.

“I just want to help out and this is a great cause,” he said.

If you’d like to be a donor to An Ear for Emmett, visit gofundme.com and look for the campaign.

If you’re interested in knowing more about Frank Silveira’s creations, he’s on Facebook and would be happy to hear from you.