Brayden Ross

Brayden’s story is not an uncommon one, it’s a story that has been repeated time and time again for cancer patients and their families. It’s sad and heartbreaking, especially for those of us who are left to carry on without his physical presence. But its also a story of strength, determination, kindness, laughter and love.

Brayden had gotten progressively sick over the course of about a month; extreme fatigue, night sweats, weight loss, and a sore ankle. We knew in our hearts something was desperately wrong; a young, healthy, athletic, social teenager doesn’t sleep day and night. On January 19th, 2018, at the age of 17, Brayden was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and admitted to the IWK. We soon learned that the genetic translocation of Brayden’s AML was aggressive and once he was in remission he would have to have a stem cell transplant. It was his only option for long term survival and without it his cancer would inevitably return.

Brayden did not have a stem cell match in the international database and the decision was made that Brayden would have a haploidentical transplant using cells from his father who was a half-match. Statistics were good; related half match donor transplants have been shown to be as effective as full match unrelated donor transplants. He was hopeful, we were all hopeful that the transplant would work.

It took three aggressive rounds of chemo for Brayden to get into remission. If there was a possible side effect from chemo, he was sure to have it and it was awful. Despite this, his spirits rarely wavered, he was strong and focused on the end goal. He told us often, “it’s a marathon, not a sprint” and “cancer knows it can’t beat me, I’m too tough for it”. His sense of humour carried him (and us) through the toughest of days.

Once in remission Brayden received his haploidentical stem cell transplant. Recovery was not easy and five weeks later we learned that Brayden had graft failure; meaning the transplant was not successful. He began conditioning chemo for a second transplant. We knew recovery from this transplant would be even more difficult because Brayden wasn’t anywhere near as healthy as he had been going into the first one.

Within days of receiving transplant number two, Brayden began to struggle and he was moved to the Intensive Care Unit. Once there his heart, lungs and kidneys, tired from the marathon they had been running for almost six months, began to fail and he was sedated and intubated. The hope was that his body would get some much needed rest so he could continue to recover and to give his second transplant a chance to work. Unfortunately Brayden’s body could not sustain itself and three weeks later we said good-bye to our funny, beautiful, sweet boy. He passed quickly and peacefully surrounded by love, just six months after his initial diagnosis and one month after his 18th birthday.

The love and support from our community, family, and friends for Brayden and our family throughout his battle with AML was amazing. They held blood drives, Be the Match drives, fundraisers and so much more. Brayden recognized how lucky our family was and knew there were many families who may not have the support ours did. That’s why we participate in Light the Night; to celebrate Brayden’s life and to carry on his wish of helping others who are facing the same diagnosis he did. We are honoured that the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society have chosen Brayden to be the In Memory Honoured Hero for the 2019 Halifax Light the Night Walk and encourage everyone to come out and support this wonderful event.