They're in cancer-stricken teen's corner

[Fred Derf Veteran]

They're in cancer-stricken teen's corner

Folks in Saugeen Shores have lent financial and moral support to ailing hockey player Caitlin Cobean, writes Lois Kalchman

Feb 07, 2007 04:30 AM

On New Year's Eve, Caitlyn Cobean felt fine.

The next day, the Grade 8 student and minor hockey player couldn't remember her mother's name. Her head was unaccountably throbbing, her vision fuzzy.

"It just came out of the blue," recalls mom Rona, a nurse in Saugeen Shores, a town of 11,400 on Lake Huron south of the Bruce Peninsula. "She suddenly said that she couldn't see. I kept kidding her along. She said, `No,' everything was blurry. Then she said she was seeing two of me.

"She knew who I was but couldn't tell me my name, her sister Bryanna's (name) or my friend's name. That lasted about five minutes. Then she had a massive headache."

The symptoms launched an urgent series of hospital visits and, 10 days later, a life-altering diagnosis: an inoperable, malignant brain tumour.

For the past month, Caitlyn has been in and out of Toronto's Sick Children and Princess Margaret hospitals. She takes chemotherapy pills at night and radiation treatments during the day. Weeknights are spent with mom in a downtown hotel.

But back in Saugeen Shores, Caitlyn's diagnosis has helped show that hockey truly is a game of heart.

The 13-year-old played with the Storm bantam C team. When they heard about Caitlyn's tumour, the Storm and "Party Pylons," a senior women's recreational team, decided to hold a benefit game to help cover the family's expenses in Toronto.

Rona Cobean expected the event to raise about $500 ? enough to pay for one week at a hotel while they wait for a room at Ronald McDonald House. She was wrong.

On Jan. 26, barely two weeks after Caitlyn's diagnosis, almost 1,200 people crowded into the Saugeen Shores Community Complex Arena on a bitterly cold night.

"I didn't think I could get in," said Scott Drysdale, a local hockey convenor. "There were over 1,000 people crammed into our arena that holds 800. People were lined up outside the rink. It was a brutal evening with freezing rain, blustery winds and horizontal snow all night. It was very touching."

With Caitlyn coaching, the Storm won 5-4.

But there was more than a hockey game going on that night.

The peewee boys rep team (11- and 12-year-olds) raised more than $8,000 by having their heads shaved as a show of solidarity with Caitlyn, who is losing her hair to the radiation.

"That meant the world to Caitlyn," Rona wrote in the family's blog.

"Why would I be scared now, there is at least 20 other kids in town that are bald!" Caitlyn told her mom.

More help was coming.

The atom and peewee teams had a raffle table at the fundraiser. Her 11-year-old sister Bryanna's team held a 50-50 draw. There was a "chuck-a-puck" at $2 a puck. An oldtimers team ran a silent auction, another sold drinks in the "Blueline Club."

Older brother Dylan, 15, accepted a dare from the winner of the 50/50 draw to have his head shaved. He raised $2,300.

Team Caitlyn T-shirts, in deep blue with a Maple Leaf on the front, were made and are being sold around the town.

Total raised: $37,000 and counting.

"It's absolutely amazing, beyond belief," Rona says. "Having the whole town behind us, I can walk away from home now knowing the bills will be paid."

The surprises are continuing. Last week, Caitlyn and the family were granted a wish by the Children's Wish Foundation ? a trip to Disney World, likely in the spring.

It's hard to count blessings when a child is sick, but the Cobeans are doing so. Jim Cobean used to be a dairy farmer, but in August he started working for Zeigler Lumber. The job came with drug benefits. Without them, last month's chemo bill would have been $8,400.

"Someone up there is watching us," says Rona.

Divine intervention had nothing to do with the hockey community's support. For 10 years, Jim and Rona have given to the game by coaching and managing teams. Now, the game is giving back.

"We just wanted to do something for her," says Sheri Perdue, the manager of Caitlyn's bantam team and one of the many organizers of the benefit. "It's wonderful living in a community that will help you. We're all part of the hockey community and we're all digging for her."

Hockey is helping in other ways, too.

On Jan. 8, five Maple Leafs walked into Caitlyn's Sick Kids hospital room, including captain Mats Sundin.

"Sundin is my favourite player and he came into my bedroom," Rona gushes. A coach has bought Caitlyn a Sundin jersey.

"Our kids were ecstatic when the (Leafs) walked in," says Rona. "We had to peel them off the ceiling."

But hockey can do only so much.

Caitlyn is now on medication for seizures, caused by the anti-tumour treatments. She faces radiation and chemotherapy into November.

On Friday, the local high school is having a shave off; Caitlyn will be there to remove the last of her hair with other students.

"I'm okay, but tired," she says.

Adds her mom: "It blows you away (as a parent). But you have to deal with what life has dealt you. Caitlin says there is no sense crying about it. That's not going to make it go away."

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/179043

Caitlyn Cobean, centre, flanked by brother Dylan and sister Bryanna, was given a thrill when Leafs (from left) Brendan Bell, Pavel Kubina, Mats Sundin, Kyle Wellwood and Kris Newbury paid her a visit at Sick Kids.

[Allan]

and other countries wonder why Hockey is Canada's past time?

This story proves that Hockey can bring more then just one family together - it brings all Canadians together, in good times, and bad. Ups and downs. And that even our major stars are not afraid to get in and help the community. I hope God will bless this little girl and bring her back to full health and soon.

I take my hat off to the Leafs and all the people who have organized, participated and bought from various events ... truly amazing.