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Every person has something that happens to them in their lives that they do not enjoy or that they wish never happened, whether this "thing" is extremely bad, or if it doesnt affect them that much, this happens to everyone. For me and many other children across the world, this thing we wish never happened to us is getting diagnosed with Cancer. Cancer has changed me, shaped me, and hurt both me and my family. I wish it never happened to me; however it did, and with the help from my parent, my friends and the wonderful people in various organizations, i have defeated this desease twice and i have come out on top.

It all started at the Age of 7, i was playing with some friends at school and i was having stomach pains. My teacher sent me home and i stayed in bed for a while. My mother began to get worried because these pains would not cease so she brought me to the hospital. The hospital ran various tests on me, such as X-rays, ultra-sounds, and a Cat Scan. We where told that we should now go home and they would look into the tests they had run and get back to us at our home. I remember the day i first learned of my desease. My mother answered the phone and immediately fell to the floor in tears. I was only a child then, so I did not comprehend the pain she was going through. I was worried that she had hurt herself. She then called my father, who immediately came home from work. My mother and father sat me down and began to explain to me the severe threat to my life that i had. Being only a 7 year old boy, I did not really understand what it was they where telling me. What follows is something that i have tried to erase from my memory, because it is the hardest time I have ever had to experience in my life. I went to the hospital for sick children in Toronto and they set up an appointement for surgery. I was assigned a doctor on the Oncology floor and I went under the knife. The Tumour I was diagnosed with was Wilms tumour, and it had spread to my left kidney as well as my right lung. They had to remove a portion of my lung as well as my entire left kidney. I still feel the effects of these missing parts in me today. Following that was the most grueling time of my life, when i was put on chemo-therapy. I lost all of my hair and i had to make frequent trips into the city to get this drug put into me. This was extremely hard on me and my family, because my brother remained home and my parents had to put their lives on hold to be able to take me to the hospital. I was finally let out, and told i had a clean bill of health. I went home and tried to glue my life back together. My family finally got used to the idea that their son was healthy and began to try and get everything back on track. Just 6 months before I would have been labelled cured for good, i began to get shoulder pains. My mother, not taking any chances took me directly to the hospital. They ran tests on me and said everything was fine. My mother not believing them demanded that more tests be ran. They did, and found that i had once again had a tumour in my body. This time it was attacking my liver. Once again, i would have to return to the hospital and be put on the operating table. I was now 12 years old, and i was aware of the pain i would once again have to go through. By this time, the hospital for sick Children was renovated and much more convenient. I once again took the chemo therapy and lost my hair and would have to visit the hospital frequently. I can still remember the long nights of staying awake with my mother by my side, worried as to what will come next. However i defeated thatr illness once again and left the hospital with a clean bill of health.

It is now 7 years since i was diagnosed with the terrible illness for my second time and I am as healthy as ever. I walk down the street as a normal young man, and nobody would tell the difference as to whether i was sick or not. I play Basketball for my school, Ultimate Frisbee for my school, track and field and i love cars and Breakdancing. I won the award for the MIP on my vasity boys basketball team and i am on the starting line-up. I look back on my illness and find that it has made me a much stronger person. I have defeated what many people call the undefeatable 2 times over. However without the help of the people around me, i would have never been able to do this. First is all the friends and family that came to visit me and bring me strength to go on, second is the hospital of Sick Children and their wonderful staff that have saved me. Another great part of my conquering this sickness is all the companies that have helped me, such as FCC, Children's wish foundation and both Camp Trillium, and camp Oochigeas, which i will be a councelor at next year. However the person I truly owe the most for having helped me through this rough time, is my mother, without her, i would not have survived, there is no doubt.

Riders like the people who are riding across Canada to raise money for kids like me, are truly amazing people. Thank you so much for your dedication, it is because of people like you that hundreds of lives can be saved each year.

Jason Collin