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> Terry Fox award recipient shines through fight with leukemia
Terry Fox award recipient shines through fight with leukemia
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September 15, 2004
A criminology lecturer determined to win his battle with acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the recipient of SFU's annual Terry Fox Humanitarian award.
Bryan Kinney, who remains in remission, will receive the award at a ceremony on Sept. 23 during SFU's Terry Fox Day celebrations. The ceremony will be held at 11:40 a.m. in Convocation Mall.
The award is given annually to someone who has demonstrated personal qualities of courage in adversity and dedication to society exemplified by Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope.
Kinney got the call that changed his life after giving his first lecture of the spring 2002 semester. A blood test revealed he had the rare form of cancer. Instead of preparing his next lesson, he began a course of blood transfusions, chemotherapy and radiation that would render him helpless and siphon off 55 pounds. His chances were, at best, 35 per cent that he'd survive beyond the next two years.
But the SFU doctoral student didn't lose faith. And he didn't go it alone. Wife Aili, who is also a PhD student at SFU, has travelled his road with him.
The pair met at SFU in 1999. They had returned from a Carribbean cruise in December 2001, a few weeks before Kinney was to begin teaching. During the trip he didn't feel well. He questioned a bruise caused from carrying a simple towel bag. “You can never be prepared for hearing the worst. You face abruptly what's important and what isn't,” he recalls. “It sorts you out in a hurry.”
His first concern was for his class. Aili, who is also a professor at the University College of the Fraser Valley, took over his teaching duties for the next three months while carrying on her own work, completing a contract with the Justice Institute. She spent the rest of her time at the cancer treatment centre, where Kinney was a patient for two months .“Aili took care of all the logistics. All I had to focus on was getting through it,” says Kinney. “She's amazing.”
Aili points to her husband's infallible spirit. “Bryan always sees the bright side of things,”she says. “He keeps his senses about him, and he's not afraid to make light of things. We share that dry sense of humor. It helps.”
For the next several months they made the 55-km round trip trek from their Port Moody home to the center for Kinney's daily treatments, which lasted up to 14 hours a day. “I proposed on prednisone,” recalls Kinney, who married Aili in their house that summer “with two friends and two cats attending.” Criminology department staff later held a reception. “People came out of the woodwork to help us. Our SFU colleagues are phenomenal.”
The pair work with another SFU husband and wife team, Paul and Patricia Brantingham, who study crime in urban settings. Kinney's research looks at court sentencing patterns in Vancouver and surrounding areas.
Resuming studies is also looking possible. “We're in a best case scenario now,” says Kinney, who has been in remission since his first round of treatment. He'll be considered free from the chance of a relapse if he remains that way by the end of May 2005. He's already surpassed the half-way point. “Right now I'm still looking at a 50-50 chance, but it doesn't bother us like it did at first,” he admits. “I worry about things and giggle, all things considered. I look at life and I'm happier in everything. More in love than ever.”
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(digital photo of the pair at the Terry Fox statue available)