We are honoured to welcome Owen Brady to the Fight Club. Today, Owen will share his inspiring story, one of personal and athletic adversity. Owen has always been a phenomenal athlete, hockey being his biggest passion. In his early teens, Owen was on track to be drafted in the first round of the OHL. However, when Owen was suddenly diagnosed with cancer at 15-years-old, his ambitions quickly faded in the face of reality.
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When Owen was 15, he noticed a small bump on his leg. Unphased by this bump, Owen continued with life as usual. He continued to play hockey. Over the next six months, the mysterious bump had grown significantly. Owen decided it was time to have it checked out. Expecting it to be nothing, Owen went to the walk-in clinic. Quickly, Owen's fears intensified as preliminary X-Rays showed that this bump might actually be something quite profound, like cancer.
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Owen spent the next month completing a series of diagnostic tests, including more X-Rays, MRIs, and surgery. Finally, Owen went into surgery, which took nearly 19 hours. They took out 15 centimetres of his left shin, where the tumour had grown, replacing it with the smaller two shin bones. They also had to put a cage and screws into his leg and conducted things like a muscle graph and bone graph.
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It wasn't until about a month after surgery that Owen's worst fears finally came true. Until then, he had clung to hope - hoping that that bump was "nothing." Unfortunately, Owen was officially diagnosed with Osteosarcoma.
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Quickly thereafter, Owen began chemotherapy which lasted for about 6-months. Finally, in August of 2019, Owen finished chemo. At this point, Owen became officially cancer-free.
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Upon beating cancer, Owen was ready to return to normal life - especially hockey. Owen refused to let cancer take away his goals and dreams; he committed to working hard to rebuild himself and return to the ice.
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When COVID-19 hit, the world stopped, and Owen had the opportunity to focus with no distractions. Owen spent this time in lockdown, getting strong for hockey.
Now, Owen is back on the ice, playing Junior Hockey. Owen's dream is to play Division I Hockey at a school in the United States, which will give him four plus more years of living out his passion for hockey, while also getting an education, meeting new people and sharing his phenomenal story.
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This is only a glimpse into Owen's inspiring story. Owen has plenty to share on his personal and athletic journey during this week's episode. We are delighted to join Team Owen. Thank you, Owen!
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