A Cobourg boy was chosen amongst twelve to share their story while living with cancer.
4-year-old Hendrix was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of cancer that begins growing in the stem cells of blood. Since his intial diagnosis on Feb. 23, 2023, Hendrix’s mother, Jenna Devlin, has been right beside her son during the entirety of Hendrix’s nine months of intense treatments after his initial diagnosis.
As Jenna details, Hendrix began chemotherapy as an inpatient at Ronald McDonald House. During their tenure at Ronald McDonald House, Jenna came in contact with Ontario Parents Advocating for Children with Cancer (OPACC), a charity dedicated to assisted families with children diagnosed with cancer in Ontario. As she explains, OPACC immediately began supporting Jenna and Hendrix with vouchers. Hendrix was able to experience Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada thanks to the generosity of donations made through OPACC, which Jenna explains is something that otherwise couldn’t happen.
Most notably, Jenna was put in contact with parents in similar situations as her.
In the latter half of 2023, Hendrix was also diagnosed Diabetic ketoacidosis, which develops when your body doesn’t have enough insulin to allow blood sugar into your cells for use as energy. Jenna says despite such massive, life-altering diagnoses, Hendrix remained resilient.
This story is what led OPACC to choose Hendrix as one of the calendar children to be shared on OPACC’s 2024 calendar. Hendrix can be found on the July page of the calendar, and readers can purchase one, or other OPACC charity merchandise, here: https://www.opacc.org/shop
Written by: Noah Lorusso
