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Partricipant Bio: Peter
I was born June 10, 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, and grew up in nearby Newmarket. Late in the summer of 2006 I had graduated high school, and was planning a camping trip with my friends when I fell ill. After several visits to the local clinic I was sent to the emergency room, and after a week in hospital I was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia.
I spent the next month in Princess Margaret Hospital getting heavy chemotherapy. I was then released from hospital, spent the next two weeks recieving daily brain radiation, and finally started the second phase of chemotherapy as an outpatient. This lasted for 6 months, and after some complications I moved on to the final "maintenance" phase of chemotherapy, which lasted about a year and a half.
Since finishing treatment in November 2008 I have attended a cancer survivors conference in Calgary, and spoken at the Canadian Cancer Society's Surviving Cancer and Living well Conference in Toronto. I plan on spending May of 2009 backpacking through Europe, and head to Ottawa to enter the Journalism program at Carleton University in September.
I want to join this expedition because I feel like it will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Being sick for most of the last two and a half years has taught me that you have to take chances and live life to the fullest while you still can, and never to say no to something just because it is outside of my comfort zone. I want to take this trip now, while I still have one more summer free from school and full-time work.
Our Mission
To help young adult survivors of severe illness or injury identify, process and apply life lessons through adventure activites.