2020 Team 5 - Team Cole

Cole came into this world a little reluctantly on the morning of March 7 2014.  He was our first and only child and we couldn't have been more excited about becoming parents.  The first year of Cole's life went as planned.  He was quick to pick things up, he loved an good book and had no time for being on the ground so he decided to start walking at 9 1/2 months.  We were settling in as parents, really starting to get the hang of it (if that's even possible lol).  When Cole's mum went back to work you could regularly find him and I at the local pool, park or play center.  Cole was a happy little guy and always up for an adventure.

June 24 2015......  The day life came crashing down on our family.  Like any regular day Cole and I were at the local pool, but today was different.  Cole wouldn't go into the water he just wanted to stay in my arms.  We had been to the doctor multiple time for a small lump in his abdomen and I thought that may be the reason for this weird behavior.  So we left the pool and headed home.  Something wasn't right so I made the decision to take him into the emerge and get him checked out for what I thought was most likely a hernia, boy could I have been more wrong!  After a whirlwind visit to the emergency room, multiple tests and a call to his mum to come straight from work I was met by a doc that informed me they were arranging for immediate critical transport down to the Hospital for Sick Kids.  The nightmare had begun, although we didn't know it yet.  I went with Cole in the ambulance to the hospital and was met down there by his mum.  Again a bunch of tests were quickly preformed and then the team entered with the worst news any parent can hear.....  your son has cancer, and it's bad!  We were devastated, but had to pull it together for Cole!  I got to the original emergency department just after 1pm in the afternoon, by 2-3am Cole was in the ICU receiving chemo just to try and stop the progression of his disease.  Life as we knew it was forever changed!!

Over the next 4 years we were beside Cole every step of the way with his treatments, surgeries and subsequent recoveries.  Cole taught us about resilience, about being a warrior, about how not to let life's circumstances get you down and so much more.  Cole was a fighter every step of the way and when he was feeling good he was such a ham!!  Cole loved to play with his toys, loved a good book, loved music and dancing, loved his family and especially loved driving anything with a motor!!  Between treatments we would leave as soon as his blood counts recovered for camping trips, and any adventure we could think of.  The 3 of us were inseparable.  When Cole turned 3 years old we were privileged with a Wish Trip and it was not even a question of where we were going, we were going to meet Mickey at Disney.  Those 4 years were tough but we made the absolute best of them!  When Cole was of age to go to kindergarten he went.  He made lots of friends and showed so much compassion for other kids.  My favorite story from his teacher is this....  Cole hated saying goodbye in the morning when school started so I asked him to pick a stuffy from his room.  Every morning I would hug and kiss the stuffy, then we would put it in his bag.  I told him if he missed mommy or daddy during the day to go into his bag and that stuffy had a stored hug and kiss just for him.  Well one day Cole noticed another little person in his class having a rough day, so what did he do?  He went to his bag got his stuffy and told his little friend that they could have his stored hug and kiss for the day to make them feel better and not be so sad.  It was incredible to hear that even after Cole had endured so much that he could still be so sensitive towards others.  In January of Cole's kindergarten year his health once again took a turn, Cole enjoyed school by this point so his mum and I would go into his class and be with him so he could continue to attend.  By the middle of  May his health was really slowing him down and Cole left school for good.  We went camping!!  Nature is a medicine of its own and Cole perked up during that last camping trip.  We did all his favorite camping activities, driving the truck on my lap in the park, canoeing, splashing in the water and most importantly roasting marshmallows on the fire at night!!

On June 13 2019 Cole took his final breath at home in his mother's and my arms.  Cole never needed his bed in Emily's house nor any of the things that we had brought into our home for palliative care treatment.  He simply did it his way. He went from playing outside, driving his battery car and asking to go for a walk to the park to coming inside and gently and peacefully drifting off and becoming our forever guardian angle.

For the last two years you would have found Cole at the Hockey for Grace tournament cheering on his uncle and I.  He would have been playing in the kids area, coming into the dressing room after the games and in the parking lot just being one of the boys!  This year Cole will once again be at the tournament, maybe not physically but because of Chris and Amy he will be there in memory and in spirit, and for that I can’t thank them enough.