National Post (National Edition)
Hawerchuk finishes chemo treatments
STOMACH CANCER
Former Winnipeg Jets star Dale Hawerchuk has completed chemotherapy treatments in his battle with stomach cancer.
Hawerchuk’s son, Eric, took to Twitter late Monday to post a photo of his father ringing the “Bell of Hope” as he left the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie, Ont.
“Today my dad finished his final round of chemo Protocol in Barrie,” is how Eric Hawerchuk began his message. “Got to ring the “Bell of Hope” on his way out. ‘We hope’ this is the end of a long journey but he’s ready for anything. Thanks to everyone who has reached out. Means the world to us. Thinking of you all.”
The photo showed Hawerchuk wearing a medical mask and gloves as he rang a silver bell in the hospital hallway. The younger Hawerchuk ended his tweet with the hashtag, #DaleStrong. The tweet drew a flood of reaction within the hockey community.
“All praying for him,” former Buffalo Sabres teammate Matthew Barnaby tweeted. “Amazing teammate, player, person... He’ll get thru this.”
“Pulling for you Dale! You got this,” former women’s star Hayley Wickenheiser said via her Twitter account.
“It was an honour to play against your Dad,” former NHLer Tom Chorske tweeted. “I remember him chirping me once. Makes me smile these days. Thinking about you and him.”
Others related their own stories of loved ones about to undergo treatments or ringing their own Bells of Hope after completing theirs.
The tweet also drew a message of inspiration from 11-year-old Conor Grieb, a Jets fan in San Francisco who’s recovered from his own battle with cancer.
“Tell your dad hockey players are tough,” Grieb tweeted to Hawerchuk’s son. “Seven and a half years later. Congratulations and keep fighting. Conor.”
Grieb’s reply included photos of him soon after his treatments several years ago and a recent one of him in uniform for his youth team.
A member of the Winnipeg Jets Hall of Fame, Hawerchuk, 57, took leave as longtime head coach of the Ontario Hockey League’s Barrie Colts last September.
He was the NHL’s No. 1 draft pick in 1981, beginning a 16-season career that saw him record 1,409 points in 1,188 games with Winnipeg, Buffalo, St. Louis and Philadelphia.