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5-Year-Old Celebrates His Final Round of Radiation at A Boston Bruins Game, Exodus Drummer Tom Hunting Announces Cancer Diagnosis, and More

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From a 5-year-old with brain cancer celebrating his final round of radiation at a hockey game to a cancer diagnosis for Exodus drummer Tom Hunting, here’s what’s happening in the cancer landscape this week.

A 5-year-old attended a Boston Bruins game to celebrate his final cancer treatment.

Quinn Waters recently finished his 30th round of radiation after being diagnosed with brain cancer for the second time. To celebrate this, Waters and his family attended the Boston Bruins hockey game on Tuesday, according to WCVB-TV.

Before the game, Bruins player Charlie Coyle tossed a puck to Waters in the stands. The team ended up winning the game.

Waters was diagnosed with a brain tumor, medulloblastoma, on Feb. 11, 2019. He had an eight-hour surgery the following week to remove it, followed by rigorous chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant in June 2019.

As Waters’ treatment caused him to be homebound that summer, he received visitors often. One of the visitors was Coyle. Others included the band the Dropkick Murphys and the New England Patriots cheerleaders.

The Bruins posted a photo of Waters holding the puck on their official Instagram account, captioned “For The Mighty Quinn.”

Firefighters in Collier County, Florida, built a playground for a 4-year-old cancer survivor.

After Adrian Cruz spent half of his 4 years of life in treatment for leukemia, he was declared cancer-free in December.

As a gift to Adrian, whose dream is to become a firefighter when he grows up, the North Collier Fire Department firefighters gifted him a playground for his backyard. They put together the playset with the help of Cruz, whose room is filled with firefighter books and decorations.

“I just know that was his first word,” Nicole Cruz, Adrian’s mom, told WINK News. “Firefighters.”

The playground was paid for by the firefighters’ union dues. Jeff Morse, battalion chief for the North Collier Fire Rescue District, had contacted Adrian’s family after hearing about his cancer journey and his love for firefighters.

“He’ll run away from people but with the firefighters, it’s like he knew they were firefighters, and he just came up and warmed up to them,” Cruz said. “He wouldn’t even leave them alone.”

A three-time cancer survivor created a shoe company to spread awareness of diseases and medical conditions.

Jimmy James was initially diagnosed with stage 3b metastatic testicular cancer in 2002. After being declared cancer-free in 2003, he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2005, and received a clean bill of health six months later. Unfortunately, in 2015, after a night of writhing in pain, James’ doctors informed him that he had seminoma, a type of testicular cancer. After undergoing surgery to remove the cancer, he was once again in remission.

James decided to combine his 15 years of experience in design and 11 years of experience in footwear with his passion and understanding for those dealing with diseases and medical conditions. This led to the creation of the MyCause Brand, a line of shoes designed to support people with cancer or other diseases, survivors and caregivers.

The shoes feature three ribbons on the side, which are custom-colored depending on the cause, and a “strength cloud” on the back and side that leave imprints on soft surfaces such as dirt and wet sand. The imprints include words like love, power, strength and more.

“I wanted to give people a fun, obvious way to show their support of the causes and the people closest to their hearts,” said James. “The Awareness shoes are made from EVA-recyclable, eco-friendly material and are super comfortable, too."

The company launched Thursday on Indiegogo. For each purchase, 20% of the price is donated to the cause of the buyer’s choosing.

Exodus drummer Tom Hunting was diagnosed with cancer.

Tom Hunting, 56, announced via Facebook that he is undergoing treatment for squamous cell carcinoma. In February, a gastric tumor was found in his upper stomach.

“I’m making this public to raise awareness for people to pay attention to symptoms of stomach and esophageal issues,” Hunting said, according to Metro Co UK. “If they persist, please go get it checked out. I’m not gonna be sheepish talking about it.”

Hunting also mentioned that he feels great physically right now and has great doctors and a support system.

Hunting formed the band, Exodus, in 1979 and is the only remaining original member. He has been the band’s drummer since its inception and continues making music with the group, which plans to release its eleventh studio album this year.

“With our never-ending support for our bandmate, friend and brother,” his bandmates said in a social media post. “We Love You.”

Hunting added that he intends to beat his cancer ‘like a snare drum.’

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