The Donor: William Brock
The Gift: $1-million and climbing
The Cause: Université de Montréal
The Reason: To support leukemia research
Six years ago, Montreal lawyer William Brock figured he had six weeks to live.
It was Sept. 21, 2004, and Mr. Brock had returned from a kayaking trip in Alaska when doctors told him he had leukemia. "My father was diagnosed with leukemia on Sept. 27, 1997, and he died on Nov. 6, 1997," he recalls. "I said to myself, in six weeks I'm dead. I had an expiration date like a litre of milk."
Mr. Brock spent the next few months undergoing chemotherapy at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, which is affiliated with the Université de Montréal. When that didn't work, doctors luckily discovered that Mr. Brock's brother, Gordon, was a match for a bone marrow transplant. The operation was a success but it took Mr. Brock two more years to regain full strength.
As the fifth anniversary of his transplant approached, he wanted to do some kind of commemoration. He had always been an avid cyclist and even kept a newly bought bicycle in his hospital room for motivation. "I remember looking at the bike and saying to myself I'm going to get well, I'm going to survive," he said. "My bike became a real focus for me."
Mr. Brock decided to bike across Europe, from France to Hungary, where his grandparents were born. He started in April and reached Budapest this week. Mr. Brock was joined along the way by family members, his doctors and friends. He also used the excursion to raise money for a fund he set up in 2006 at the Université de Montréal to support leukemia research.
"I did [the bike tour]to celebrate life," he said. "I did it to celebrate the people who saved me. I did it to thank the people who save me and I did it to help the people who saved me."
The fund recently topped the $1-million mark, and Mr. Brock, 55, is already planning a 10th anniversary event. He hopes to raise another $3-million by then.
In a strange way, he said, leukemia has been a gift. "It's kind of hard to think of getting cancer as a gift. But to understand how lucky you are to be alive is an incredible gift. How many people go through life understanding how lucky they are?"
pwaldie@globeandmail.com