| 'Living
it' - written
by Dan Robson |
|
For
two days, Bryan Mudryk lost hope.
|
 |
| |
| Lying
in isolation at the Cross Cancer Institute (CCI)
in Edmonton for over a month, the 20-year-old clung
to life as the treatment his Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
nearly killed him. |
| |
| “It
hurt to chew. It hurt to move in bed slightly,”
the Boyle, Alta. native recalls of those terrible
days over a decade ago. “I couldn’t
walk to the washroom. I had a nose bleed for 14
hours one-day.” |
| |
| Stem
cells were removed by taking bone marrow from his
spine, eliminating his immune system, as he underwent
seven days of chemotherapy at a time, in hopes of
shrinking a growing tumor behind his lungs. |
| |
| During
that time, a simple cold could have killed him.
The few visitors allowed in wore masks to contain
common germs. His 6 foot 1 inch frame was diminished
from 205 to 139 pounds. Dull daylight, sneaking
through a window from the Edmonton winter, stung
his eyes. |
| |
| In
the three years Bryan grappled with cancer, these
were the darkest days. “It was horrible. But
it can’t help but change you. I learned a
lot of life lessons in those 40 some days, I’ll
tell you that.” |
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| The
News |
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| It
was two years earlier, in 1998, when Bryan discovered
the malignant lump in his neck. A biopsy revealed
another tumor behind his lungs, and the doctors
confirmed that it was Hodgkin’s. |
| |
| At
the time, Bryan was set to begin a radio and television
program at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
(NAIT), pursuing his dream of becoming a sports
broadcaster. Bryan was volunteering at Shaw
in Edmonton when he was just 16, making the trip
from his hometown of 800 people every week. |
| |
| Unable
to attend registration, but unwilling to give up
his spot in the program, Bryan sent his father to
orientation. Bob Mudryk, a high school principal
in Boyle, sat in a classroom filled with teenagers
and raised his hand when Bryan’s name was
called. Bob didn’t think much of it when the
instructors started laughing. “They
thought I was kind of an old fart to be registering
in art and television,” Bob laughs. |
| |
| A
Special Talent |
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| Bryan
managed to attend classes at NAIT that year, as
doctors at the CCI successfully contained the cancer,
shrinking the tumor through chemotherapy. However,
its perilous location in Bryan’s body meant
the tumor could not be removed. |
| |
| Bryan’s
humility, eagerness, and talent stood out to instructor
Chris Durham that year. “Initially I
didn’t realize he was sick,” Durham
says. “He seemed to have boundless energy,
and to think that he would be felled by an illness
at his age was just shocking.” |
| |
| Bryan
excelled through the program, landing his first
job as a weatherman at CKSA in Lloydminster, Alta.
right out of school. A year after being diagnosed
everything was going well, it seemed. |
| |
| Then
a year later, five days before Christmas 1999, he
had a cold he couldn’t get rid of. And just
as he was about to go on air for the 6 o’clock
news, Bryan’s doctor called. “Your
cancer is back. We need you back in.” Bryan
had relapsed. |
| |
| He
read the weather that night, keeping the news to
himself. Then Bryan went home and sat in the dark,
alone, for five hours. “That was the
first time I was scared. Because I knew what I had
gone through, and it was obviously going to be a
lot worse now.” |
| |
| The
Dark Days |
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| March
of 2000 were the worst days of Terry Mudryk’s
life. |
| |
| As
her son began the painful treatments – the
stem cell transplant, the chemo, the trial drugs,
the isolation – she sat beside him, clinging
to her faith. Making the nearly two-hour trip
from Boyle to Edmonton, she put her life on hold
for Bryan–spending six days a week with him.
The nights were sleepless. |
| |
| Bob
would stay with Bryan on Fridays, as Terry went
home to take care of her business in Boyle. She’d
be back by evening, with a friend driving her as
she caught sleep for the first two continuous hours
of the week. |
| |
| As
she sat by her son, Terry played tapes of his work
at the TV station. She read him her favorite bible
verses. She helped carry him when he couldn’t
walk. And one snowy day, perhaps near the
time that Bryan temporarily lost hope, she looked
out the window and prayed a mother’s plea.
“You know God, I know that you can take him
from me – but I don’t want you to,”
she said. |
| |
| And
so Terry and Bob stood by their son, unable to stop
his physical suffering but carrying his spirit the
best they could. “There’s no way
I would have made it through without both of them,”
Bryan says. |
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| Bryan’s
only sibling, Marty, four years older, describes
those days as “devastating.” He
watched as his younger brother was brought to within
an inch of his life. And then he watched him rise
again. |
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| Giving
Back |
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| After
the intensive treatment, Bryan’s health rapidly
improved. Eventually he was well enough to leave
the CCI – a place he credits with saving his
life. “I just can’t say enough
about the nurses and the doctors at the Cross Cancer
Institute,” he says. “They are phenomenal,
phenomenal people . . . They see families at their
absolute lowest.” |
 |
| |
| By
2003, Bryan was cancer-free and working for CTV
Edmonton. Feeling a great debt to the CCI and knowing
that other families were going through the same
terrible experience, he decided to start golf tournament
fundraiser in his hometown of Boyle. With
just a few participants, they managed to raise almost
$30,000. Since then, the Bryan Mudryk Golf Classic
has taken off. |
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| Terry
works all year to make the tournament happen. She
oversees around 50 volunteers for the annual event.
A couple years ago she started a paddle boat
race to help raise money. Last year alone, the 'Sisters
Battle of the Paddle' brought in over $27,000. |
| |
| Marty
shaved his head to raise funds in the second year
of his brother’s tournament. For the
past four years he has organized a sponsored bike
ride from Edmonton to Boyle on the weekend of the
tournament. Last year, The 'United Cycle to
Boyle' raised nearly $33,000. |
| |
| Through
these past ten years, the tournament has raised
more than $800,000 for the CCI. That money has helped
bring cutting-edge chemotherapy drugs, an electron
microscope, and an image guided radioactive therapy
program, among other innovative technologies to
the institute. |
| |
| “It
truly has been amazing to see someone as young as
Bryan step forward and dedicate so much effort into
giving back,” says Bobbi Wolbeck of the Alberta
Cancer Foundation. “He has pulled in his family,
his friends, his entire network of people around
him to stand behind his cause – to stand behind
what’s allowed him to be here today.” |
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| 1n
2009, Bryan started a scholarship for young people
in post-secondary education that are being treated
for cancer. Terry heads a selection committee that
received over 80 letters from students in need of
the $1,000 scholarship. |
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| Overwhelmed
by the need, they decided to hand out three awards
instead of one. And every year since then, they
continue to do the same. |
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| “We’re
very proud to be helping young people out,”
says Bryan. “My family and I are having an
awesome time doing it, and it obviously we’ve
raised a lot of money, and it feels great to be
able to give back.” |
| |
| Against
the Odds |
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| After
surviving cancer Bryan says he became more driven
than ever to make the most of his dreams. |
| |
| “Those
were the times that drove me when I was healthy
to enjoy everyday, to embrace what you have, and
to work really hard,” he says. “I was
really aggressive with my career after that –
because you’re not promised tomorrow, and
I learned that the hard way.” |
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| In
2006, after successful stints at CTV and A-Channel
in Edmonton, Bryan got the call that he dreamed
about. A couple months earlier he had interviewed
for a job with TSN as a national sports broadcaster.
He hadn’t heard back and thought he missed
the opportunity. |
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| But
finally the phone rang. |
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| At
27-years-old Bryan became one of the youngest anchors
the network has ever hired. Today, at 31, you can
find him as the host of Sportscentre and calling
curling across the nation. |
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| “I
think his cancer scare did affect him,” says
Mark Milliere, vice president of production at TSN,
and the man who hired Bryan. “He looked at
it as 'I know what I want to do with my life,' and
it emboldened him to go after and get it.” |
| |
After
cancer almost took his life, it drove Bryan Mudryk
to find his dream. So
go ahead and write him. Let him know you
care.
Or simply donate to help others receive the care
Bryan did. Go
to Cross Cancer here right now and make your donation. |
