Shayna Conway, shooting survivor, helps her mom fight lung cancer

It's been a long journey of emotional and physical recovery for Shayna Conway since surviving a tragic shooting in Alberta four years ago. Now, she's dealing with another major challenge — watching her mom battle lung cancer.

Just before Christmas 2011, Conway was the sole survivor of a murder-suicide on the side of an Alberta highway.

Friends and fellow Islanders Mitch MacLean and Tanner Craswell were shot to death, along with Tabitha Stepple. The shooter, Stepple's ex-boyfriend Derek Jenson, then turned the gun on himself.

At the time, doctors called Conway's survival a "miracle."

In the years since the shooting, the 25-year-old has learned to cope with "major ups and downs" thanks in part to what she calls her "great support system."

Now, Conway is giving back to one special person in that network of friends and family — she's organizing a benefit fundraiser for her mom Sheri Wade, 55, who was diagnosed with cancer two years ago.

'She's wonderful'

"She's been there with me through everything — spent the whole time with me in Alberta and living with her when I got home. She's my mom. She's wonderful," Conway told CBC Radio's Island Morning.

"And she doesn't let me just get away with everything either. She's good at putting me in my place when I need that."

Wade has undergone chemotherapy and radiation treatments. She is now taking medication to prolong her life and keep the cancer from growing. That's been working and is helping Wade stay positive, said Conway.

"Even sometimes I can be pretty negative. She keeps reminding me, 'Today's really the only day that we have, so why not try to make it the best it can be?'"

Conway said her brother and sister, who live with their mother, are doing well and the family is able to talk about the situation openly.

Community rallies

P.E.I. singer-songwriter John Connolly, who has helped organize the fundraiser, is performing along with Nudie, Fraser McCallum and Patrick Ledwell, and others.

The event will take place on Oct. 23 at Upstreet Craft Brewing from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The money raised will be used to help Wade pay for her medication and to make life a bit easier, said Conway.

"It's unbelievable the people that have rallied together and have been there for me and for my family," said Conway.

"I just see it all the time here and I don't know if it's because our community is so small, everybody knows each other and everybody loves everybody's business. Sometimes people think that's a bad thing, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."