Steve Osborne

In memory of Vicky
 

On May 1, my family and I lost my wife Vicki to acute myeloid leukemia after a 31-month battle. Vicki was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in September 2014. It was quickly determined that Vicki’s only path to survival would be through a blood stem cell transplant, which she received in March 2015.

Unfortunately, she relapsed in August of 2015. Throughout that entire time, from September 2014 to May 2017, Vicki herself was the recipient of many acts of kindness, from familiar faces at Juravinski Hospital, but also from hundreds of complete strangers.

Since her initial diagnosis, Vicki has received: 13 bone marrow biopsies, six rounds of chemo therapy, seven bursts of radiation, a stem cell transplant and hundreds of blood transfusions. She participated in two clinical drug trials and was the first patient in the world to receive a second round of a phase 1 clinical trial drug, in pursuit of a cure.

Vicki’s stem cell donation came from a gentleman in Germany. It’s been said that 1,250 is one estimate of the number of donors required to provide all of the transfusions Vicki received, since her original diagnosis. All complete strangers. All anonymous acts of kindness. This community is a really fantastic community. Very giving. Very selfless.

Vicki and I agreed that helping this community needed to become a focus. Going forward, it is a way for me to continue investing in and celebrating my relationship with Vicki, while at the same time helping the two of us pay it forward to the next patients and family members to encounter blood cancers.

The LLSC is a very important organization for people in the blood cancer community to obtain resources and support, but also the LLS Canada provides funding support for important research and development to help find a cure for these diseases. This is why I host the Oakville Light The Night walk year after year and why my wife’s company Trapeze continues to walk in Toronto.

- Steve