In 2024, my best friend, a person I have known for 30 years, someone who has been in my life since before I could even form memories, suddenly collapsed at work with a seizure. A complete shock for someone who is in fantastic health. He was rushed to the hospital and after many scans and tests, doctors found a lime-sized growth on the right frontal lobe of his brain. He was shortly thereafter diagnosed with a stage 2 astrocytoma, a cancerous type of brain tumour that grows from the supportive glial tissue of the brain. Within weeks, he was in surgery to remove the tumour. Unfortunately, due to its location, it was impossible to remove 100% of the tumour without risking severe and lasting neurological damage. The surgical team was able to remove a significant amount, but some remained. Since then, he has been undergoing chemotherapy in an effort to slow the growth for as long as possible. He is in great spirits and recent scans show no significant growth, which is a win every time he gets that news, but he will be battling this for the rest of his life.

He recently welcomed his first born daughter with his wife (who is also one of my best friends of 30 years). The two of them grew up as neighbours, three doors down from my childhood home. I consider them both family, just as close as my own biological family. I have been a real strong third wheel in their relationship since childhood, and I’d like to keep steering this little tricycle by using this opportunity to raise money for the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada. I’m doing this in support of my friend, and for anyone else affected by a brain tumour in the hopes that one day there are new, better treatments and, in a perfect world, a cure. I am also doing this for his family, who are my family, and for a daughter who deserves a life full of memories with her father.