The hockey season was winding down when doctors told Andrew Mizzoni that the swelling under his eye wasn't just a virus, it was cancer. He was nine years old, an avid basketball player and a goalie with the Vaughan Rangers of the Greater Toronto Hockey League. "I felt pretty down," Andrew remembers, "but I knew that whatever happened, I would still play." Andrew had rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer that attacks soft tissue. He immediately started chemotherapy and radiation, but that didn't keep him from thinking about next season. He went to the tryouts, slipped his mask over his bald head, and earned a spot on the team. By December, he was in remission and back in goal. A few months later, however, the cancer was back. While undergoing more chemo, Andrew and his dad, Len, hosted the first annual Andrew Mizzoni Charity Golf Classic, raising money for other kids with cancer at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children. By the fall of 2002, it was clear that even aggressive chemotherapy wasn't going to be enough, and on November 19 surgeons removed Andrew's left eye and the surrounding tissue. He returned to the basketball court just a week later, but learning to play goal with one eye took a whole month. A coach showed him how to watch for players behind the net; he worked on his depth perception by throwing a tennis ball against the wall in his basement and catching it in his trapper. In his first game back, Andrew made a dramatic glove save in the dying minutes to preserve a 1-1 tie. The unfortunate shooter later left a message on Andrew's website: "Everyone was happy that you made that save. Even my dad was happy. I wasn't. But you truly are a great goalie and I am so happy you are well and playing the game you love most." Since then Andrew's quiet determination has inspired countless other young athletes - with cancer and without. As usual, he'll be inviting kids with cancer to join him at his fifth charity golf tournament, in July. The event will add to the $200,000 he's already raised for his friends at SickKids. Andrew greets all the golfers and makes a speech at the end of the night. "I just try to help out wherever I can," he says, "and I try to be a role model." Andrew is now in high school and concentrating on basketball. He gave up hockey two years ago after leading his team to the league title and boasting one of the lowest goals-against averages. As he told his father, "Dad, I want to retire a champion." Chosen charity: SickKids Foundation - Andrew Mizzoni Cancer Research Fund |
