Lemieux letter inspires Diodati
Jim Diodati is a glass-half-full kind of guy to start with, but when he opened up a letter he received in the mail the other day his optimism that he’ll beat the cancer that’s lowered his highprofile personal persona of late soared to new-found levels.
Diodati, well into gruelling rounds of chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma — a cancer that develops in the lymph system when abnormal white blood cells over-multiply and overwhelm the lymphatic system — opened the envelope and found a letter and autographed photo from hockey legend Mario Lemieux.
Lemieux, considered one of the greatest professional hockey players of all time who helped propel the Pittsburgh Penguins to multiple Stanley Cup championships as player and subsequently owner, also battled Hodgkin’s lymphoma, smack dab in the middle of his playing career.
The superstar said he recently learned Diodati had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s in the summer after being hospitalized for weeks with pneumonia and developing pericarditis, an inflammation of the membrane surrounding the heart.
Lemieux stressed in his letter — it also included a photo of him hoisting the Stanley Cup in June 2017 after his team won Lord Stanley’s Cup for the fifth time since he joined the Penguins — that Hodgkin’s lymphoma has a very high cure rate when caught early enough.
The founder of the Mario Lemieux Foundation, which has raised more than $15 million for cancer research and which has ongoing projects for blood cancer and a lymphoma centre for children and young adults at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, urged Diodati to lean on the support of those close to him as he battles through his treatment and his recovery.
“Personally, I found comfort and added strength in my family and friends during my personal battle with Hodgkin’s,” Lemieux wrote. “Their support proved invaluable to me. I sincerely hope that you may find comfort with the support of your loved ones.”
Lemieux also urged Diodati, who has had to keep his physical distance from people because his immune system has been compromised by his treatments, to keep his spirits high.
“It is also extremely important to keep a positive outlook on your situation,” he said. “Never forget that your illness can be beaten and a happy and healthy life is waiting for you at the end of your recovery period.”
Diodati, who sent an open letter in the summer praising his care through Niagara Health and saying he’s been overwhelmed by people reaching out with their good wishes for a speedy recov-
ery, tweeted out in response to Lemieux’s letter that the hockey great is a “class act.”
Diodati, who has sent the Lemieux letter out to be framed, said he is “very touched” by the gesture.
He said when he told one of his brothers about his Hodgkin’s diagnosis, he asked jokingly if his brother recalled how people used to compare Diodati to Lemieux — at least in terms of hockey skills.
“There was a silence, then a ‘no, not at all,’” said Diodati. “We both laughed, then I said, ‘Well, they will now.’”
Diodati pointed out that Lemieux’s diagnosis and treatment didn’t prevent him from returning playing at a superstar level with the Penguins.
“(That’s) a huge inspiration for me to get back to being 100 per cent healthy and then come back to work,” he said.
In a video Diodati posted from Oakes Park in the summer before the annual Heater’s Heroes walk for kids battling life-threatening illnesses such as cancer, Diodati said mutual support in tough times is important for people fighting cancer.
“I choose to focus on the treatment and the healing rather than the sickness itself,” he said. “It’s not a fun thing. But today is a wonderful day where we can come together as a community and celebrate that we’re all in this together.”
Diodati, who is running for this third straight term as mayor of the City of Niagara Falls, said he’s keen to keep pushing on key priorities such as a Ryerson University campus for the city, a new south Niagara hospital to be established in Niagara Falls, and ensuring the province extends GO Transit daily commuter rail service to his city as promised.
“There is still work to be done,” he said.