Tim's courage became my strength

When I graduated High school all I knew was that I liked sciences and people. I took a year off after high school to coach cheerleading and work at the local Tim Hortons. During that year, I dated a local boy, and one night at a local minor league hockey game his little brother, 14 at the time, just collapsed on the ice during his shift. He had been tired lately and had funny bruises, turns out that trip to the ER that night showed he had Leukemia.

He spent months at the Alberta Childrens’ Hospital, and the nights that I was visiting I really liked the nurses and wondered how they did it. Then one day in the cancer clinic I watched a nurse access his central line (port o cath) and at that very moment I thought I really want to do that (and vaguely remember announcing it to the entire clinic!), and the rest is history. I enrolled in nursing school and knew from day one I wanted to work with kids with Cancer. I was honoured to actually get to work with most of the nurses that cared for him and got to Thank the nurse who accessed his port for inspiring me to pursue nursing.

I was blown away by Tim’s courage and strength throughout his battle with leukemia. I never once saw him negative, even when he was so sick. He made the doctors discharge him early from the hospital so he could be a groomsmen for his Brothers’ wedding and he never once said he was tired, when we all knew he was exhausted. He went on to ride his bike across Canada to raise funds and awareness for Pediatric Cancers. www.spokemantour.com I was completely inspired and humbled by his determination and drive, and knew that I wanted to work with kids just like him. And I have for the past 3 years and they inspire me daily. If those kids only knew how much they teach us all about the beauty of life.