Our Story

Andrew Mercier was diagnosed with Leukemia 2 days before his 10th birthday. This came as a surprise to his family and friends, as he had always been a high energy, adventurous and active kid. He was an avid Lego builder, loved biking and snowboarding, and playing with his friends in the neighborhood. He was known to many as the class clown, and thoroughly enjoyed that title. He loved to make people laugh, creating his own jokes and playing practical jokes on whomever he could. He was smart and enjoyed showing off what he learned in school.

Throughout Andrew’s battle, he rarely complained. He took every poke, every pill, every procedure like a true warrior. He sometimes got frustrated and would ask, “why me?”, but never let it pull him down for too long. He loved to joke with his nurses and doctors, and loved it when they joked back. He binged watched Sponge Bob and must have seen every single episode during his hospital says. He loved Stranger Things and watched all 3 seasons multiple times. He went to The Great Room at his hospital to craft and create new things to display in his room. He was so proud of his crafts and showed everyone what he made.

Sadly, Andrew didn’t make it until his next birthday. His cancer was an extremely rare type of Leukemia. His doctors said only 12 cases world wide of his specific type, have been reported. Andrew fought hard, fought gracefully, and was an amazing source of smiles and laughter until the end. Andrew passed away from his Leukemia on December, 15, 2019.

During Andrew’s hospitalization, he was given a “farting unicorn” that he named Dookie. Dookie was a large, stuffed unicorn with a remote-controlled fart machine sewn inside. Andrew would hide the remote under his sheets, and hit the button to catch his unsuspecting victims off guard. Andrew found such joy in making others laugh, and Dookie was a great source of laughter for Andrew.

To carry on his love of laughter and practical jokes, we are starting Andrew’s Laughing Gas. We want to give every child fighting this awful disease a reason to smile, and laugh, and just be a kid. We are making stuffed animals that, like Dookie, remotely “toot” to hand out to as many kids as we can reach, to spread Andrew’s laughter to others. We know Andrew would love for his laughter to continue…

ALG continues to grow and provide fun new products to young cancer warriors. We host an annual “Silly Book Drive” to ship boxes of silly books to hospitals nation wide. We have created a line of silly non-skid socks for use while in the hospital. And we have produced a line of clothing for children to wear while receiving treatment. We are always looking for new ideas to spread joy and laughter.