On Friday, January 23, from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm,10-year-old cancer survivor Eddie Glanville will join 70 other kids from the Kids Cancer Care community in the second annual Sparks and Sticks Hockey Tournament at the Shane Homes YMCA at Rocky Ridge (11300 Rocky Ridge Road NW).=
When Eddie was two, he suddenly regressed to crawling and started vomiting every morning. A CT scan revealed that Eddie had a brain tumour. As Susanne and Peter Glanville scrambled to absorb the news, their two-year-old baby boy went in for emergency brain surgery. Months of chemotherapy and two stem cell transplants eliminated the cancer, but the surgery changed everything. Post-surgery, Eddy experienced posterior fossa syndrome — a condition that affects balance and coordination, along with the ability to swallow, speak, talk and walk.
Eddie uses a wheelchair today and struggles with cognition, speech, balance and coordination. To help with his mobility, balance and coordination, Eddie joined Kids Cancer Care’s PEER program, a research-based therapeutic exercise program that helps kids build fundamental movement skills, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal strength, flexibility, coordination and balance.
The Sparks and Sticks Hockey Tournament is the culmination of months of planning and collaboration between Kids Cancer Care, Suncor, Calgary Flames Foundation, Calgary Wranglers, Calgary Dinos, PX3 AMP Sledge Hockey Academy and the YMCA. It will see six teams of kids go head-to-head to compete for the Sparks and Sticks medals. In the months leading up to the tournament, the Calgary Wranglers and Calgary Dinos have been coaching and practicing with the kids to improve their skating and hockey skills at Vision Sport Centre.
Suncor and the Calgary Flames Sport Bank generously outfitted the kids in hockey equipment, e.g., helmets, mouthguards, pads, skates and sticks, while the YMCA at Rocky Ridge is providing the space at no cost to Kids Cancer Care.
