“All the support has given me the strength to keep fighting” says the teen with cancer

Tara Jeffrey/The Independent

When the U15 AAA Lambton Jr. Sting players take the ice next weekend for the Alliance Championships, it won’t just be for a medal or title — they want to win for Grayson Morgado.

The team’s 14-year-old goaltender has been sidelined since receiving a devastating brain cancer diagnosis in December.

“When you have a teammate that is away from the team in his situation, you truly do feel that extra desire to win for them,” said head coach Tom Babcock. “We hang his jersey behind the bench every game and we talk about him every week.”

Morgado, who started out as a Point Edward Blackhawk player at age five before being selected to Lambton’s AAA program, was settling into Grade 9 at St. Patrick’s High School, and a new hockey season, when he began feeling unwell last year.

“He didn’t have headaches, he wasn’t dizzy, but he was rapidly losing weight,” said mom Stacy Morgado. “We went to the emergency department, our own doctor, and had blood work upon blood work…and then finally I said, ‘we need an MRI.’”

In December, MRI results showed two cancerous brain tumours.

Later that month, Grayson was in London to begin chemotherapy.

Back in Sarnia, Babcock broke the news to the team during a video session.

“This truly has been the most difficult thing I’ve had to go through in 30 years of coaching,” he said. “There was a lot of crying and a lot of hugging.”

Because of the nature of his tumour — one of which is sitting on his pituitary gland — Grayson is in London every other day, where he is closely monitored by his medical team.

“The care in London is incredible,” Morgado said of both the Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre and the Ronald McDonald House.

Once he’s completed chemotherapy, Grayson’s doctors will decide whether he needs brain surgery or proton therapy — the latter of which will require the family to stay in the U.S. for two months.

“It’s a lot,” Morgado said. “One of my best friends once told me, ‘don’t let the highs get too high, and don’t let the lows get too low. And she’s absolutely right.

“We got some ‘medium’ news yesterday,” she continued. “And it kind of devastated us quickly, because, we let our highs get too high, right? Like, it’s not going to go perfectly – it’s cancer.”

Grayson’s positive attitude also helps keep the family afloat through the storm — including Dad Mike, and sister Jocelyn.

“I’ve always said — he’s magic. He’s an amazing kid,” Morgado said. “They come at him with new things they need to do to him — poke him, and take from him — and he’s just a champion. He never snaps, he never loses it; he’s constantly kind, and he’s constantly making this easier — unfortunately — for everyone around him.

“He just keeps saying, ‘whatever it takes.’”

Grayson has completed four of six rounds of chemotherapy, and has even felt well enough to make it to a couple of games, including a special Face-Off for Mental Health event where he was on hand to drop the puck for his team in January.

“He was really nervous about shaving his head when he was losing his hair,” Morgado explained. “When he went to see the team, they had all already shaved their heads before him.

“He was like, ‘OK, I can do this,’ and he came home and shaved his head.

Grayson was also a special guest to the Sarnia Sting where he announced the team’s starting lineup in February.

“It’s these little moments that are exactly what you need to get through another round of chemotherapy, which is really hard on him, you know? It’s a rough, rough time for him.”

Morgado says the support — from family and friends, to community members and complete strangers — has been overwhelming, especially while she’s off work, to care for Grayson.

That includes fundraisers at his former elementary school, Sacred Heart, gas cards, special drop-offs and more.

And then there’s the hockey community.

Teams across the region are wearing ‘GM’ stickers on their helmets, donated by Planet Stitch, and have made donations to the family in Grayson’s honour. Local referees from the Bluewater Referees Association have donated their game fees to the family. Grayson’s story has even made it to NHLers like Marc Andre Fleury and Carey Price, who have reached out to lend support to the Sarnia teen.

“It’s really quite something,” said Morgado. “Sarnia-Lambton is a really special place to be.”

Grayson will complete his fifth round of chemotherapy this week and hopes to be well enough to watch his teammates compete for the Alliance Championship on home ice March 28-30.

“All the support has given me the strength to keep fighting,” he said. “And it’s really just helped me through it all.

“I’ll be rooting for them for sure.”