CDS students share stories of childhood cancer on Terry Fox day

October 7, 2015 · 0 Comments

Senior school students took part in Country Day School’s annual Terry Fox Run, running a “colour run.”

By Jake Courtepatte
The rain fell hard and fast on King Township during Country Day School’s annual Terry Fox Run recently, but to the students it may as well have been a sunny day.
Two students in particular certainly were the inspiration for the entire student body.
James Eacock, a Grade 8 student whose story was shared by his mother at last year’s run at the school in King City, lifted the spirits of the junior school by helping to raise a flag in honour of Terry Fox to kick off the day. James has been battling cancer since Grade 6, and was recovering from extensive radiation treatment and chemotherapy during last year’s run.
With the skies opening up in the early afternoon, the middle and senior schools crowded into the performing arts centre to get a pep rally under way with the four houses. Loud cheers, colourful costumes and outrageous props followed a powerful speech from Grade 11 student Mackenzie Winch, a childhood cancer survivor.
Mackenzie told the crowd her story of how one afternoon, her parents were made aware that their baby girl would be born with a rare type of cancer called retinoblastoma, cancer of the retina. Her parents and doctors made the decision to bring her out a month earlier than her due date, and was put into surgery to prepare for chemotherapy at one day old.
She is the youngest baby in the entire world to ever be given chemotherapy in an incubator.
The first year of her life was a combination of treatments to combat the tumours growing in her eyes. After a year of surgeries, blood tests, and MRIs, it seemed she was cancer-free.
But at the age of four, she was back where she started. It was then that she started her first year at CDS.
“Being around so many kids my age, I started to understand that what I was going through was by no means normal. But I had so many amazing friends and teachers that helped me through it.”
She still has the CD that her friends and teachers made for her while she was going through treatment.
“Everyone at CDS was so fantastic. The support was amazing.”
Following the rally, spirits were high as the schools went out in the rain to the back 40 for a colour run, the course transformed into a rainbow of colours. James, who a year ago was at Sick Kids, walked the entire length of the course.