Adam’s second love is music. At the age of ten he picked up the electric guitar and, just like his hockey stick, had difficulty putting it down. He gathered up other musically inclined friends and together they formed the AC/DC tribute band, Tantrum. Tantrum has played all over Simcoe County and has been asked to return to many venues because of their charisma on stage. Adam, also known as “Angus,” has imitated this famous guitarist flawlessly.

In April 2007 Adam competed against many young, talented boys to land a spot in the second round of tryouts for a AAA hockey team. En route to the tryouts, Adam’s doctor advised him not to lace-up his skates.

Adam had recently undergone blood work during a visit to the emergency room at his local hospital to investigate the cause of dark purple bruising on his legs and back. The results showed that Adam had a very low blood platelet count, meaning a contact sport like hockey could cause him to bleed internally.

After two weeks with this diagnoses, doctors spotted “blast” cells on Adam’s scans. On May 4, 2007, Adam was sent to The Hospital for Sick Children, where he was diagnosed with High Risk Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, the most common form of childhood cancer.

Adam began an intense eight-month protocol of treatments, including oral medication, muscular injections, countless blood transfusions, hundreds of needle pokes, lumbar punctures and chemotherapy. Throughout the process, he reacted poorly in his medication and endured infections, severe mouth sores, toxicities to drugs and even surgery to remove his appendix. Adam also had to endure the exhausting 200 kilometre roundtrip drive to the hospital four to five times a week, while also enduring eight admissions due to complications.

Adam’s life, along with his family, has been forever changed. To be faced with the uncertainty of this life-threatening illness and for Adam at the tender age of 13 to give up everything he loves in life has been very challenging emotionally. However, Adam has been courageous every single day as he endured losing his hair, suffered for weeks in the hospital with endless infections, lived through countless side effects from brutal chemo and witnessed hospital friends helplessly slip away from cancer their bodies could not fight any longer. Through it all, he has always asked questions, remained in control, focused and determined.

Currently, Adam has finished the intense portion of his protocol. He will continue to receive IV and oral chemotherapy for the next three years and also continue spinal taps and blood transfusions. Thankfully, with the love and support from organizations like the Tour for Kids he has a newfound understanding for others that have endured such obstacles in their life. He has become an active philanthropist helping to raise money for the three cancer camps for kids located across Ontario whose lives have also been disrupted by cancer.

He hopes that through his fight the awareness of childhood cancer will become widespread and that people will understand the importance for continued research and the necessity for children afflicted with this disease experience some joy that camp can bring to their lives. Adam will be starting high school this coming fall. His focus is on science. In other words, his mission is very clear, that he hopes to someday see a cure for childhood cancer.