May 10
19
Ambassador Profile: Andy Brooks
Andy Brooks: Oakville, Ontario
Child’s condition: 10 years fighting cancer. 4 years in celebrated remission
Brain Tumour
Age: 17
Colds last 7 days with treatment or a week without, and that week seem to drag on forever. Imagine 4,745 days of illness, give or take 100 days or so. Andy has been battling and living with cancer for that long. Diagnosed and first treated at age 3, Andy is now 16 years old, and still spends about a week a month at the Hospital for Sick Children. With many pediatric cancers, recovery is never whole or complete. In Andy’s case, at age 13 years, after 10 years of treatments and therapies, Andy celebrated remission but by Age 15, Andy was diagnosed with intractable epilepsy and is legally blind; a legacy from the disease itself and the cures to keep him alive.
The impact on Andy is obvious to the naked eye, not so obvious though are the scars on the rest of the family. Whether it is disappointment of leaving a successful career or the financial impact becoming a one income family, parents learn to sleep with one eye open, and downsize their own dreams. Siblings try to make themselves perfect to cause no extra stress on a family, they rarely ask for time, events or money for themselves. Of course living like this for so long is impossible without cracks…tears, worries, panic attacks, stress related illnesses, depression. Families with a child with cancer live with all this and more. Andy’s family has, but they have also learned to cherish the smiles and laughs and they continue to dream.
As for Andy, he and his dog guide Boston, attend grade 11 in Oakville, Ont. On the weekends Andy works flipping burgers at the local McDonalds and spends about 1.5 hours a day cycling. He’s in training for the SNKCR. Andy is a national rider and with the help of other riders, Andy will be riding across Canada this June on a tandem bike. 19 days or 456 hours he’s looking forward to.
