Living through the COVID-19 pandemic that is currently gripping the globe has proven to be, if nothing else, a surreal experience. It’s all so real, yet, at the same time, just seems so inconceivable. Given the unfathomable period that we are currently experiencing, maybe it really isn’t so hard to believe that one of Hollywood’s brightest stars recently made a direct impact on the life of a young harness racing fan from Ontario.
Ariel, pictured with her parents, Ace and Denise.
Late last year, the Standardbred Canada website helped inform the Ontario harness racing industry of the plight of Ariel, the 12-year-old daughter of racehorse owner Colin ‘Ace’ Densley Burrows that is giving everything that she’s got in her fight against scoliosis.
Those that make it out to Standardbred racetracks in southern Ontario have probably seen Ace and Ariel from time to time.
“I love getting out to the track, and I take Ariel with me quite a bit,” said Ace, who explained that, for example, he will drive from his home base in the Niagara region to the Peterborough area just to catch the excitement that two minutes of a live race brings.
“The two of us have a great time at the track, and Ariel’s gotten to know some of the regular faces that we see at the raceways,” said Ace. “She’s a great kid and really leaves an impression with people.”
Ariel has had three ribs removed and part of her thigh to reconstruct her spine. She recently underwent a month of halo stretching her spine at The Hospital for Sick Children (‘SickKids’) and 11 hours of surgery. Ariel was recently released to go home, but before she left the hospital she was part of a quick conference call from none other than Ryan Reynolds.
Ariel kicked off the call with the first question for Reynolds. She asked him what is his favourite movie that he has acted in.
“My favourite movie that I’ve done… I really loved Detective Pikachu,” Reynolds told Ariel. “That’s a big one – partly because my kids love it. I have three daughters, and two of them are old enough to watch it now and they love it so much.”
Please join Standardbred Canada in wishing Ariel a speedy and complete recovery from her fight against scoliosis.