In support of UOttawa Smiling Over Sickness' Shave for a Cure 2016.
Sponsor Raphaël and help him raise awareness and money for childhood cancer research here
Sponsor Raphaël and help him raise awareness and money for childhood cancer research here
In June 2001, I was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma in my left femur.
It's been 15 years since then, and guess what?
I survived.
The surgery was painful, but the treatment was successful.
Whoever thought that recovery would be so delightful?
Then again I suppose, it wasn't so simple.
To leave the hospital, what the sick called a temple.
I remember the stitches, the staples and risks.
No one ever said it would be a quick fix.
I've made it from a wheelchair, from a crutch, to a cane.
All along, somehow I've managed to stay sane.
Whether you were family, friend, or foe,
I am indebted to you for helping me grow.
Sometimes I miss it, the spartan struggle.
The want, the need, for a little less trouble.
Thrown and thrashed, I searched for meaning.
What I wanted most, was for a new beginning.
I travelled to London, to Paris, to Rome.
It seems for the lost, everywhere is home.
I survived.
I've used my time as best I could.
I look in the mirror where that boy once stood.
That sick kid who was bald in grade three,
is becoming a doctor to help others be free.
I don't have the answer, but I know one thing.
I know I hate cancer, and what it can bring.
But there are others, a child, a baby, a kid.
Who face the same battle that I once did.
I need your help.
I need your power.
To bring more smiles.
To make this their hour.
I survived.
But that's not enough. We've got to keep fighting.
It's been 15 years since then, and guess what?
I survived.
The surgery was painful, but the treatment was successful.
Whoever thought that recovery would be so delightful?
Then again I suppose, it wasn't so simple.
To leave the hospital, what the sick called a temple.
I remember the stitches, the staples and risks.
No one ever said it would be a quick fix.
I've made it from a wheelchair, from a crutch, to a cane.
All along, somehow I've managed to stay sane.
Whether you were family, friend, or foe,
I am indebted to you for helping me grow.
Sometimes I miss it, the spartan struggle.
The want, the need, for a little less trouble.
Thrown and thrashed, I searched for meaning.
What I wanted most, was for a new beginning.
I travelled to London, to Paris, to Rome.
It seems for the lost, everywhere is home.
I survived.
I've used my time as best I could.
I look in the mirror where that boy once stood.
That sick kid who was bald in grade three,
is becoming a doctor to help others be free.
I don't have the answer, but I know one thing.
I know I hate cancer, and what it can bring.
But there are others, a child, a baby, a kid.
Who face the same battle that I once did.
I need your help.
I need your power.
To bring more smiles.
To make this their hour.
I survived.
But that's not enough. We've got to keep fighting.
