Jason Di Tullio was the first to get his hands on the Canadian Championship medal, won by CF Montreal last November. However, he was neither on the field nor on the sidelines during the meeting, but in the stands, with his girlfriend.
This is because Di Tullio, assistant to coach Wilfried Nancy, has been facing the adversary of a lifetime for six months: grade 4 glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain cancer.
“I was nervous because I lost my sight a bit on the left,” explains Jason Di Tullio on the phone a few days before Christmas. But Wilfried, he’s like that. He said, ‘There you go, Jay, you can go.’ We toured the Saputo stadium with the Cup in our hands. ”
“In the evening, we went to eat with the staff to celebrate a little bit,” he says. I was emotional. I want to have the chance to lift the MLS Cup next year. I don’t know if I’ll be there. Statistics say sometimes yes, sometimes no. ”
But the former Montreal Impact defender does not want to be influenced by the numbers. So let’s just say that this cancer’s survival rates aren’t his greatest sources of hope.
“I made the mistake at the start of going to our friend Google, and it hit me hard. It still strikes me today. There are days when I have to get back to the present moment. ”
He remembers his state of mind at his mother’s 61st birthday party, who is sitting next to him during our phone interview. The question arose in his head: “Am I going to be there next year to celebrate his next birthday?” ”
Prepare your defense rampart
The diagnosis fell last June. He has since had two operations to remove all visible traces of the cancer. The CF Montreal assistant coach has also overcome six weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, in addition to starting oral chemotherapy treatment in October which will last six months. These treatments are part of the international protocol related to this disease, still little known to doctors.
The good news is that at his last magnetic resonance imaging test, carried out three months ago, “everything was stable,” says Di Tullio.
“But the problem with this cancer is that it comes back a lot,” he adds.
The coach therefore wants to put all the chances on his side. He organizes his defense like a keeper prepares his wall to block a free kick. There are these chemotherapy pills. He also takes a cocktail of natural medicines. He makes sure he has good nutrition.
And 18 hours a day, he wears the Optune helmet. This technology would help treat people with brain cancer by emitting electric fields in the brain that disrupt the development of cancer cells.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY JASON DI TULLIO
Jason Di Tullio with the Optune helmet, with his sister Vanessa and his mother, Giulia Garofano
“We have no idea if it works or not, concedes Jason Di Tullio. But there are studies in Ontario and the United States that say it prolongs the life of people who have worn it, compared to those who have not.
“I have that mentality now. I will try everything. Maybe it is the player or the coach in me: I always want to find solutions, to be ambitious enough to try things even without knowing if it will work. ”
” Thank you so much ”
A crowdfunding campaign was set up on December 3. It is because as much as he wants to be financially ready if an expensive treatment emerges, he also wishes to help research to counter this disease.
Less than a month later, nearly $ 144,000 has already been accumulated.
“Thank you a thousand times,” said Jason Di Tullio humbly. It’s a lot. I am touched. These are the messages, too. Money might help me in the future, but messages help me now. ”
The decision to open this GoFundMe page did not come easily.
“It wasn’t easy for me and my family,” he admits. I am generally the person who enjoys helping the world. I have a very generous family. One of the values of our family is to always help the less fortunate. ”
A goal of $ 1 million has been set for the campaign, but it doesn’t matter how much, according to Di Tullio.
“The priority, it will be to keep it aside if ever, unfortunately, the cancer returns, if there is [un traitement] in another country, or if I have to have a full-time nurse to give my mother a break.
“But honestly, like my dad said, we hope we don’t get a single dollar. If we touch it, it’s because we donate to research, or to help someone. ”
PHOTO PROVIDED BY JASON DI TULLIO
Jason Di Tullio and his father, Antonio
“An incredible team”
At one point in our interview, we feel the need to address his mother, sitting next to him, now as for six months. “Are you taking care of Jas…?”
– Yes, and I’m proud to do it! launches Giulia Garofano, jovial, even before our question is completely formulated. Since the operation I live here with him. Things are going well. We do everything together. We get along very, very well. ”
PHOTO PROVIDED BY JASON DI TULLIO
Jason Di Tullio, his sister Vanessa, and his mother, Giulia Garofano
With the ever-present risk of a seizure, Jason Di Tullio cannot stay home alone. At least if there is one positive aspect to be taken from all of this, it is that it allows the mother to be closer to the son.
“Oh, my God, it’s beautiful! she rejoices. It’s good to be with him. Since he was young I am not with him, and there I am with him every day. We have good times, we laugh, we cry. Sometimes we quarrel too, that’s normal. He’s a good boy. ”
Jason Di Tullio’s entourage, “it’s full of women,” he explains, a smile in his voice. “I have my niece, my sister, my mother, my girlfriend, my father, my father-in-law and my mother-in-law.
“It was difficult for me at first. I have changed almost everyone’s life. But as my parents always tell me: we never had the time to sit down, talk and live together. I learned a lot of things from my father, from my mother, from my sister. We have become so close. ”
PHOTO PROVIDED BY JASON DI TULLIO
From left to right: his niece Milanna Zaccheo, his sister Vanessa Di Tullio, his brother-in-law Graziano Zaccheo, his mother Giulia Garofano, his father-in-law Abderrahim Benbarka and Jason Di Tullio
“During difficult times, even I am a little difficult. But I have an incredible team. I couldn’t be where I am today without them. ”
Giulia Garofano corroborates. “It’s not easy,” she concedes, in a quavering voice. But I am a very positive mom. ”
Off screen, his son exclaims, laughing: “I must tell the truth, I am the mamma’s boy ! ”
“I do everything for him, continues Mme Garofano, after a few mixed laughs. I would move mountains. It’s not true that I’m going to stay here and see it like that without finding help, solutions.
“Jason sometimes tells me, ‘Mom, you’re strong.’ Yes, I am strong for you. Because I love you very much. It’s love. There are days when I am in my room and I have tears that flow. It’s my son we’re talking about! ”
La Grinta, everyday
Jason Di Tullio, known as “La Grinta”, is proud of his nickname. This Italian expression used in the field of sport means intensity, fighting spirit in the face of challenges. An attitude that Di Tullio demonstrates in his everyday life.
In 2017, when he was assistant to the senior team, he was swept away by the cleaning up caused by the dismissal of Mauro Biello.
“It broke my heart, which happened in 2017. But I also learned that it’s part of the business. I continued to work on the profession, hoping that one day the club would want to have me with it. ”
Her grinned has paid off. He was rehired at the club’s Academy in 2019, before being finally repatriated to the first team by Olivier Renard and his “friend” Wilfried Nancy, in March 2021.
But since his diagnosis, he admits that it has been difficult to return to his work environment.
“It touches pride. Everyone knows you as Jason Di Tullio, La Grinta, with a lot of energy and intensity. Now I have to be careful a little bit. The staff and Wilfried were great to me. They told me to come back at my own pace. ”
“I wanted to die without knowing anything”
Before hanging up, Jason Di Tullio wanted to send a message to the readers of this story: “Go see a doctor” if something goes wrong.
“I had had a headache for two weeks and was told to take Tylenol. […] If I hadn’t entered the machine [d’imagerie par résonance magnétique] that day, I would not be here today, six months later. ”
Six months since the diagnosis which allowed him to have a great reflection on his life.
“I wanted to die without knowing anything. Without pain, without thinking. But I live things with my family, my girlfriend, my little niece. Imagine if I had never been to the doctor that day. Imagine the pain they would have had if they hadn’t had all of this.
“I saved six months, and even more, because I know I’m going to beat him. ”
A pizza and a collection in his honor
PHOTO PROVIDED BY JASON DI TULLIO
Jason Di Tullio and his girlfriend, Amanda Vicente, with # LAGR7NTA pizzas, from Industria restaurant
His nickname sticks to his skin so much that a # LAGR7NTA pizza has been added to the menu of Industria pizzerias. Jason Di Tullio even admits that he sometimes allows himself to deviate from his current regime “because [qu’il a] need his little pizza ”.
The stores Evangelista Sports, in Little Italy, and Passion Soccer also put on sale a collection of the same name.
These initiatives are used to directly fund Jason Di Tullio’s GoFundMe campaign.
“There are other things that will happen soon,” he promises.