Make-a-Wish makes hockey dream come true for Lethbridge teen

“I’m a goalie, so he’s like one of the best goalies out there. So he’s influenced me,” he said. He explained that considering it’s something night many people get to do, he’ll carry the memory with him.

“It just gets me emotional,” Tina said, “because it puts a positive spin on a negative experience in his life. I just hope that this wish, and it being granted, just gives him that extra added hope, and continue to fight for the future.”

It all started for the Zimmers in May 2016. Riley woke up complaining of a sore neck, and continued to send his mother text messages suggesting he visit a chiropractor. By the time she returned from work he had a headache, and then suggested he look at his neck.

“When I looked at his neck it looked like it had a swollen gland,” she said. “But when I felt it it honestly felt like a little hard golf ball on his neck. So I initially thought the mumps, and so I took him to night clinic and they suspected he had mono, but Riley had no other signs, symptoms of anything.”

It wasn’t until a biopsy was done that Riley was found to have Burkitt’s lymphoma, a form of cancer. His lymph node was completely removed, followed by a battery of tests such as a PET scan, bone marrow sample, and a spinal sample. Then came two rounds of chemotherapy plus treatment for an infection.

“Watching your child go through that was a lot, but he was amazing,” Tina said. “He truly was a hero with what he went through.”

Treatment cost Riley an entire summer, and his family was affected as well.

“I was up in Calgary most of the time, and my husband was going back and forth and my daughter, she was kind of being shipped around from family to family and she would come up and see us, when she felt comfortable.”

That’s why she’s especially grateful to Make-a-Wish and the Blackhawks for the treatment they all received. They all got to see the game, enjoy a pre-game meal at the United Center, and there were mementoes for Riley’s sister as well.

In the meantime, things are looking good for Riley, following a six-month checkup in February. By late November he had regained enough of his strength to return to playing hockey.

“It took him a while to gain his energy level, but by the end of November he was able to play a full three periods, and the coach knew that when picking him,” Tina said. “He said, we just want Riley to be part of a team. And if that means sitting on the bench with the boys and that’s all he can do, then that’s all he can do. But he’s still there with his friends, and, Riley knows himself, what he can do and can’t do.”

She explained it’s still important for Riley to get enough sleep and eat well, and work to get his blood counts back up. She encourages him to rest when he needs it.

“We don’t focus on it. We want him to be a typical 13-year-old boy.”

The Southern Alberta chapter of Make-a-Wish has granted wishes to more than 485 children with life-threatening conditions since 1995. The organization normally requests three choices of wish to ensure it can fulfil at least one of them. But Tina Zimmer said Riley really only had one choice, when their social worker put them in touch with the foundation.

“Riley, he only ever just wanted the one wish, and it was truly amazing that that one wish was able to be fulfilled,” she said.

by Geoff Smith (@smithco on Twitter)

Make-a-Wish makes hockey dream come true for Lethbridge teen

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