MONTREAL — For William Brock, surviving cancer has meant being able to see his two children reach adulthood.
The 58-year-old lawyer’s second lease on life after a diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia almost nine years ago is something his father, Hyman Brock, did not get. His father died of leukemia in 1997, just six weeks after being told he had the disease.
The younger Brock, the honoree at the 36th annual Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) Montreal chapter gala April 9, showed the capacity audience in Place des Arts’ Théâtre Maisonneuve a photograph of his late dad with his son, Philippe, then just a tot, shortly before his father’s fatal diagnosis.
His father would never see his grandson or granddaughter, Julianne, get any older.
Brock then showed photos on the big screen of himself with his son at the time he received the bad news about his health on Sept. 21, 2004. Philippe was then nine.
Next, he showed the two of them together recently – the boy is now 18 and taller than his father.
Brock also posted a portrait of himself with his daughter, Julianne, now 21.
The point Brock was making is that, if it had not been for advances in the treatment of cancer made possible by fundraisers like those of ICRF, he would not be alive.
He also owes his life to his brother, Gordon, who donated bone marrow to him for transplant in 2005.
“While I was lying in hospital [Maisonneuve-Rosemont], all I wanted was to dance at my children’s weddings some day. I believe I will be able to do that,” Brock said, in an eloquent address.
Although significant advances have been made since the time of his father’s illness, the prognosis for those with similar diseases today is not always good.
“I’m a very, very fortunate man,” Brock said, “because 30 or 40 years ago, there were people raising money for cancer research… If they had not been there then, I would not be here today.”
Brock, a senior partner with the firm of Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg, has fully recovered and devotes much of his time to raising awareness of blood cancers.
In 2010, in an effort to find support for better treatments, he completed a 3,000-kilometre bicycle journey across Europe, from the coast of France to the Hungarian village where his grandparents came from.
Photography is one of his other passions, and last year he produced a coffee-table book of pictures of and testimonials by almost 50 blood cancer survivors and their loved ones or health-care providers called Portraits of Hope.
The proceeds from sales go to Maisonneuve-Rosemont, and Brock hopes its message will be inspiring. The book has been distributed to hospitals across Canada, and a new edition will soon be available in the United States.
Brock reminded the audience that everyone can contribute in another, non-monetary, way – by getting registered as a potential bone marrow donor.
In advance of the gala, Brock returned to his old high school, LaurenHill Academy in St. Laurent (then called Sir Winston Churchill), to share his story with Grade 11 biology students.
The evening, which featured performances by American comedians Paul Reiser and Rita Rudner, included a videotaped testimonial from another local cancer survivor.
Amanda Sculnick was 21 when she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma six years ago. Today, she is cancer-free, married and just had her first child, a son. An ICRF supporter, she has raised nearly $20,000 through her Love, Laugh and Learn Fund, which she launched four years ago.
ICRF president Robert Bard announced that the evening raised more than $750,000. The organization provides research grants to scientists in Israel and in Montreal, at the McGill Translational Centre, in association with the Jewish General Hospital. The gala co-chairs were Gloria Richman and Paul Ostrov.