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 January
12, 2005 - By PIERRE LEBRUN
(CP) - Cancer has touched Mike Babcock's life too many times.
"In my life, (former NFL quarterback) Mark Rypien is good friend of
mine, he lost his boy Andrew to brain cancer," said the Anaheim Mighty
Ducks head coach. "I worked for the Brett brothers in Spokane (WHL) for
six years. Ken Brett died last year - brain cancer. Jeffrey Hayden, (the
son of) my next-door neighbour, I gave his eulogy this fall - he died
from brain cancer. My mom died from cancer . . .
"The gift of the lockout for me is to try and help in this area as
much as I can."
Babcock, 41, has thrown himself into the cause with the same drive
that has made him a winner behind the bench.
"Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm doing cancer research,"
Babcock said from Anaheim. "I'm just trying to get people together."
Babcock, who coached Canada to gold medals at the 2004 men's world
championship and the 1997 world junior championship, is helping a
friend, Tim Hayden, put together a website database that will help
parents whose kids are suffering from brain cancer.
Hayden, Babcock's neighbour in Cincinnati when he coached the Ducks'
AHL affiliate in 2000-01 and 2001-02, lost his 12-year-old son Jeffrey
to brain cancer last fall.
Babcock performed Jeffrey's eulogy.
"It was a very moving thing," Tim Hayden said from Cincinnati. "I
know Mike, he's a hard-nosed guy and he handles the hockey players
really well but just like me, he was struggling to get through that day.
It hit home, but he did a wonderful job, it was special that he did it.
"But he doesn't want to stop there. He has free time now and he's
helping me."
Babcock was moved by what his friend had to go through. Jeffrey was
diagnosed in January 2003 and died nine months later, and in between his
parents didn't know where to go or what to do to help their son.
"What's happening now is that when your kid gets cancer, you get on
the Internet but you can never find the information," said Babcock, who
led the Ducks to the Stanley Cup final in first NHL season behind the
bench. "Your kid ends up dead and now you're finding out information you
could have used to maybe help the doctors."
Each year, approximately 10,000 people in Canada are diagnosed with a
primary or metastatic brain tumour, according to the Brain Tumour
Association of Canada. Brain tumours are the second leading cause of
cancer death for children and young adults up to age 34. And they are
one of the fastest growing causes of cancer death in the elderly.
There's no cure for brain cancer, reminds Hayden, but he feels
doctors are somewhat ill-equipped at helping with treatment. So parents
are left trying to figure out on their own what to do to make the
remaining days as enjoyable as possible for their dying children.
"Although the Internet has a wealth of information out there, you
don't know what to believe, what's true, who are the people just taking
you for a ride - where is the factual information? You find out that the
factual information actually lies with the parents themselves which have
gone through this," said Hayden.
"Doctors and hospitals in the U.S. aren't allowed to share
information from other people, from other parents whose kids went
through this."
Hayden, who runs a high-tech manufacturing company, was left
frustrated by the lack of information or direction for coping with a
child who has brain cancer. So he's set up a website - jthf.org - which
both he and Babcock hope will grow into a huge centralized database that
can help parents around the world.
"We want to create a resource centre that allows a parent to go and
do the research so that they can make an educated decision on the
treatment program that they put together for their kid," said Hayden.
"We also want to make this information available to the medical
community so that they can recommend treatment programs that are showing
promise and steer people away from things that have not shown any
promise. And that's what Mike has worked on with me."
Babcock, who has three kids, spends much of his time these days
meeting with cancer organizations and people at the Children's Hospital
of Orange County. He had a two-hour meeting with the American Cancer
Society earlier this week, and more meetings with other organizations
are planned.
"I have more time now than I would have otherwise," said Babcock. "I
told the people the other day after a two-hour lunch, 30 minutes would
have been the max if I was coaching."
Hayden, a fan of the AHL Ducks, is somewhat grateful for the lockout.
"We wouldn't be doing this story if hockey was playing and Mike
wouldn't be doing this if hockey was in session, but because it's not,
he has dedicated a lot of his time to help raise awareness to this
problem," said an appreciative Hayden. "He lost his own mother to
cancer, so he's driven by this. His son and my son were very good
friends.
"He's the guy that can open the doors to get people to talk to each
other."
Story from:
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Anaheim/2005/01/12/896518-cp.html
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