Hawerchuk battles cancer again

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This article was published 25/07/2020 (1517 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON — Winnipeg Jets legend Dale Hawerchuk is once again battling cancer. The NHL Hall of Famer received the difficult news this week, just over three months after he finished what he’d hoped would be his last round of chemotherapy.

“My dad is back in his fight against cancer due to a resurgence of this terrible disease. We are praying for him and he will continue to fight hard. #HawerchukStrong ,” his son, Eric, wrote on social media Sunday.

The Jets released a statement Sunday afternoon, throwing their support behind “Ducky” and calling on fans to do the same.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Dale Hawerchuk and his family as he begins another round in his courageous battle with cancer. Dale has always faced his toughest opponents head-on, and we know this will once again be no different. He is a beloved member of the Winnipeg hockey community as one of the greatest players to ever wear the Jets uniform. We know that all of Jets Nation stands with him in his fight. #HawerchukStrong,” the club said.

In an Apr. 21 interview with the Free Press from his Ontario home, Hawerchuk talked about how he kept moving the goal posts as the long, painful days began to pile up, melting into weeks and then months. At first, he just wanted to live to see one more Christmas. Next, a family birthday early in 2020. Then, his own big day, his 58th birthday in early April.

“When I was diagnosed last August, you’re thinking, ‘Man that’s a long road.’ When I first thought of it, it felt like a death sentence. But the more I looked into it, the more people I talked to, the more I realized this was a battle you could win. It was like competing again,” he said.

He underwent two months of debilitating chemotherapy last fall, which led to enough progress that he was able to undergo surgery to remove his stomach on Jan. 6. Once he had recovered from that, two more months of chemotherapy began, with the last round on April 13. He got his feeding tube removed a couple of days later and went for scans earlier this summer.

“It feels to be good at this point. I don’t think this a battle will ever be over, but life’s a battle,” said Hawerchuk, who credited family, friends, strangers and the global hockey community for cheering him on from the sidelines.

“There were times I felt down and out, where I didn’t really know if I could do it anymore. But the support really helped push me through the dark days.

“The mental part of it is tough, I get it. You just need some little victories. And then when you go through a tough part, you know you’ve had a victory before and you can have a victory again. That’s what got me through it. My first week after chemo treatment was a killer. I dreaded it. But once I got through a couple of them I was like ‘Hey I can do this.’ More and more small victories eventually become a big victory.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg