Thirteen-year-old Guillaume Dufour has a dream, a wish if you will, one so many youngsters his age so casually take for granted, yet one he has yet to realize. The St. Lazare resident wants to stop pucks as a goaltender for an organized ice hockey team. With perseverance and courage, perhaps one day in the not too distant future, he will don a sweater and put on the big pads. He hasn’t been able to as yet, although he attended a hockey school last summer.
He hasn’t because for almost half his life, Dufour has been waging another battle, one far more difficult than figuring out angles when facing shots from the left or right side. He’s been trying to overcome rhabdomyosarcoma, a form of cancer. It’s a war he didn’t ask for, but one he’s had to soldier on against since it first afflicted his body in the autumn of 1998.
Guillaume Dufour is fighting the ravages of cancer. (Chronicle, Peter McCabe)
His latest round occurred last October when after suffering a relapse — a tumor was found in his lung — he travelled to Washington, D.C., for an experimental bone-marrow transplant operation at Bethesda Memorial Hospital. His younger sister, nine-year-old Maryline was the brave donor. The operation was a success and the tumor began to shrink.
"Guillaume’s feeling better, but he’s had many bad effects from the transplant over the past few months," said Nomand Dufour, Guillaume’s father. "He’s weak, and has had a tough time dealing with the medication. It had to be changed. He hasn’t been in school all year, and will probably miss the entire year. He must rest a lot, and cannot go out very much. He can’t be exposed to big crowds due to the threat of infections." On the afternoon of Feb. 27, he will venture out, probably with a surgical mask covering his mouth. His destination will be Bob Birnie Arena in Pointe Claire, where a hockey game between the Montreal Canadiens and Pointe Claire oldtimers has been organized not only to give him courage to continue fighting, but to help his family pay the tremendous expenses incurred throughout the course of his ailment.
All the revenues received that day from gate receipts and donations will go to the Dufour family.
Jacques Lemaire and Jacques Demers have agreed to be the two coaches, while Habs oldtimers will include Mario Tremblay, Réjean Houle, Yvon Lambert, Stéphane Richer, Benoit Brunet, Sergio Momesso and Richard Sévigny. NHL referee Dave Jackson, a Pointe Claire resident, and NHL linesman Pierre Champoux will put on the zebra stripes and make the calls. The Pointe Claire oldtimers will ice two teams, one for the first two periods, and another for the third.
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Source: The Chronicle
