Local hockey players banded together Saturday and raised $1,000 for their friend Brayden Ross, who is currently in hospital battling acute myeloid leukemia.
All money raised from the ball hockey tournament at Thorburn Consolidated School will go towards Ross’s treatment costs at the IWK in Halifax, where he will be staying for several months.
“We just want to let him know that we’re all here behind him in his journey. We’re all going to help him out the best we can,” said Ross’s school friend Matt Murray, who has since graduated.
When Murray was in Grade 10, he started playing hockey with Ross, who was then in Grade 9. The pair played hockey all the way through High School and the two friends were also on the rugby team.
Most of the other boys at the tourney also played either rugby or hockey with Ross before his illness.
Ross himself was an assistant captain for North Nova Education Centre’s hockey team before leukemia prevented him from playing a sport he loved.
His cousin Austin Mason, who was also Ross’s neighbor growing up in Barney’s River Station, recalled how the two would hang out after school every day.
“He’s pretty close to me. We grew up together, playing hockey together,” said Mason.
According to Murray, a bone marrow drive will soon be held at the local Nova Scotia Community College branch in Stellarton. Anyone wishing to sign up must be between 17 and 35.
Both bone marrow transplants and chemotherapy are options for treating leukemia, a cancer that affects blood cells.
A simple cheek swab can determine whether or not a potential bone marrow donor is a good match.
Murray said it was important to raise awareness about leukemia as well as helping his friend out.
“It’s the least we can do,” said Murray.
