The 2018 CHEO Telethon set a new record, bringing in $10,648,449 for patient care and research at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
The biggest annual fundraising event for the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Foundation is now in its 35th year.
Kevin Keohane, President and CEO of the CHEO Foundation, says the event is a celebration for volunteers and employees at the hospital.
The hospital's CEO Alex Munter says this year saw the busiest flu season the hospital has ever seen outside of the 2009 H1N1 epidemic.
"The child and youth population is growing," Munter said during the live broadcast. "There's more demand. There's more need and we really saw that during the flu season this year."
Munter says this is the first time the fundraising total has reached eight figures.
All money raised during the Telethon goes toward funding research and patient care at the hospital.