NEW GLASGOW – Gabriel Parker-Haines was only 10 months old when his life turned upside down. Little red spots had come out on his legs and his mother, Stephanie Parker, listened to her instincts and took him to the doctor.
She’d always felt something wasn’t quite right with her son. He didn’t sleep well, always seemed uncomfortable. It was only when they were on the move and he was distracted by other people that he seemed content.
But on Aug. 22, 2008, she felt it in her bones that something was wrong with her child. She and Gabriel’s father, Brian Haines, headed to the doctor.
“I thought it was a heat rash at first, but my instincts were saying it was more than that, that something was wrong,” Parker recalls. “Brian was off that day, so we took him to the doctor.”
By that afternoon, they’d found themselves at the IWK in Halifax. And at 2 a.m. the next morning, they were being led to the family news and given the news – Gabriel had cancer.
“It was the most devastating moment of our lives,” Parker recalls. “When they took us down the hall to the family room, we knew something was terribly wrong.”
It turned out to be the family’s own personal nightmare. For the next six months and five days, Gabriel lived at the IWK, and Stephanie left his side only twice to return home.
Haines split his time between the family’s New Glasgow home and Halifax, while Parker’s mother spent time with her in Halifax whenever Haines had to be at work.
Gabriel had been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. AML is more common in adults than children and the cure rate is lower than other leukemias. Gabriel also had a subtype that gave him an even lower chance for successful treatment – and it had already spread to his brain and spinal fluid, requiring more intensive chemotherapy treatment that eventually attacked the little boy’s body until he reached the point that he had no immunity left.
He needed continual blood transfusions to raise the amount of platelets and hemoglobin in his body, and because of the lowered immunity, he often got infections that required antibiotics. At one point, he caught a very bad fungal infection that attacked his brain and lungs.
“It was a nightmare,” Parker says.
Feb. 27, 2009, was Gabriel’s independence day, however. Doctors were finally able to get the cancer under control and, although he had to return every two days to fight the fungal infection, his parents were able to breath a sigh of relief. Their child was in remission.
For the first time since he was 10 1/2 months old, Gabriel is now drug free and is a healthy and happy cancer survivor.
It left his parents wanting to give back, to give hope to other families going through the same thing. Parker became an enthusiastic supporter of the Relay for Life – she’s a member of the Dream Team, which participated in last night’s relay in Parkdale – but she wanted to do more. She stumbled across www.photosensitive.com, a cross-Canada photo tour that features images of cancer survivors.
The group wanted to feature an image of Gabriel as part of the tour and arranged for him to be photographed by Shari Tucker in Halifax.
Tucker was so touched by Gabriel’s story that she decided to include him in a book she was writing. Titled Young and Fearless – Inspiration of Cancer Survivors, the book is a photographic journey of 30 cancer survivors, all under the age of 30.
“With a young child, they can’t speak for themselves,” Tucker said. “The child has to go through all the treatments and pain, but the parents are the ones that have to make all the decisions.”
The book includes pictures of Gabriel and his parents, as well as his story.
This is the second book Tucker has written for cancer survivors; the first was unpublished, but was such a hit that she felt she had to do another one to recognize the stories of the survivors.
“One thing with Gabriel’s story, that I hope people will take away, is that it’s important to be positive,” Tucker said. “You have to think it’s going to get better.”
That’s been the family’s philosophy since Gabriel was diagnosed. His parents believe the book will offer hope to other people who may be in his position.
“It’s a very touching tribute to everything Steph and Gabe and I went through,” said Haines. “It’s so nice to see all these individuals – they’ve become their own success stories.”
Gabriel will grow up knowing what he went through as a baby, and he’ll always have to go for blood tests every few months to make sure the cancer is still in remission. But Haines is hoping his son will grow up looking at this book as his story of survival.
“He’ll always know his past, he’ll always be reminded of the struggle he went through,” Haines said. “The book will remind him of those who didn’t make it, it will remind him that his mom and dad couldn’t be prouder of him. And it will remind him of how proud he should be of what he did. I love him to death and I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
That’s a sentiment that’s echoed by Gabriel’s mother.
“I’m very proud to be his mother,” Parker said. “He’s such a great influence, even through his hardships. I’m so proud to see him in this book.”
Although there’s no word yet on whether the book will be distributed locally, Tucker advises checking local bookstores after June 14. The book will be launched Sunday in Halifax.
