Nine-year-old École Olds Elementary School student Carter Thompson is still revelling in an unforgettable experience. Last Monday, members of the Calgary Stampeders brought the Grey Cup to his school.
Since August of last year, Thompson has been fighting cancer, specifically stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Thompson was born with a hereditary heart condition. As a newborn, he suffered heart failure and his organs shut down. However, he received a heart transplant.
His father passed last year from the same heart condition.
After the transplant, Thompson was a healthy, regular kid but began experiencing back and stomach pains last summer, at which point he went to the hospital and was diagnosed with stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer that sometimes occurs after transplants.
Since then, Thompson has seen nothing but love and support from everyone around him, ranging from his family to his school.
Last September, the funds raised from the ÉOES Terry Fox Run were given to Thompson to go towards his treatments.
Thompson is now in remission.
Now, thanks to Kids Cancer Care, Thompson had the opportunity to meet several players of his favourite CFL team, the Calgary Stampeders.
A few weeks ago, Thompson found out that the Stamps would be bringing the Grey Cup to his school.
“I felt really happy (about that),” he said.
When he actually saw it, Thompson thought the Grey Cup was bigger than he expected it to be.
He enjoyed meeting members of the team, especially former Stamps player Jay McNeil because he also fought cancer.
While the team was at the school, Carter got to interview them. He asked questions like if players get to choose their own jersey numbers and how often they practise.
Thompson walked away from the experience with more than just a priceless memory but was also given a football helmet that was signed by the team.
Tracy Thompson, Carter’s mother, said that this isn’t the first time the football team has had an impact on their lives, as some of the players visited Carter in the oncology unit in hospital.
“He was able to meet a couple of them, then one of the players mentioned that they had a game that coming weekend and told Carter that when they get some tough tackles and beat up on the field that they’ll be thinking about Carter because he’s going through so much worse,” she recalled.
Tracy is confident that this experience will be one that Carter will remember fondly for the rest of his life.
“When the Stamps stepped up to the plate again and offered to bring the cup to the school, I think Carter was probably like, in awe of everything that's happened,” she said. “It’s going to be a memory forever and be more important over time, for sure.”
“They’re an amazing team and it’s just like Carter getting through cancer — it’s taken a team with his family and the hospital. You’re going to win more when you’re playing with a great team,” she said.
