Life is sometimes unfair. Unfair when a child, a great hockey fan, dies a few days before the Canadian’s annual visit to hospitals. Unfair especially when a boy dies at only 13 years old as was the case for Etienne.
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The CH players brought a light balm, Thursday, to the pain experienced by young patients at the CHU Sainte-Justine, the Montreal Children’s Hospital and the Shriners Hospital. They put smiles on their faces and handed out some gifts. But Etienne was not there…
Suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the young boy continued his courageous fight last month when he had the opportunity to visit the Habs locker room. His meeting with striker Cole Caufield, his favorite player, had particularly marked him. And the feeling was shared by the athlete.
“It was an incredible experience to meet him, testified Caufield, Thursday, well aware of the recent death of his great supporter when visiting the CHU Sainte-Justine. It’s a very difficult situation and I was happy at that time to be there with him and his family. My thoughts are with them. »
” A privilege “
Étienne was playing hockey himself, at the pee-wee AA level, when he was struck down by illness in May 2021.
“If I can take even five minutes to spend time with a sick child, I know those are precious family moments and it’s a privilege for me to do so,” Caufield added.
The Quebec goalkeeper Samuel Montembeault had also had the opportunity to meet the young Étienne, in November, during his visit to the locker room.
“I had the chance to talk to him a little bit and it’s really sad, reacted Montembeault. We don’t wish that on anyone and it reminds us of the importance of giving smiles to children during our visit. »
Étienne’s sad fate also reminds us of the importance of giving to help research in order to develop new treatments.
In the last 30 years, the cure rate has increased from 30 to 80% for pediatric cancers. However, each child who dies is still one too many injustices.