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The latest tests show that the disease with which the 33-year-old striker has been living for more than a year is in remission
Friday 26 October 2018 5 minutes reading time
It was the summer of 2017 and Brian Boyle, fresh from signing the contract with the New Jersey Devils, during the training camp, began to accuse an abnormal tiredness. Following the investigations of the case, the player discovered that this condition was due to the worst of the evils: a tumor.
The shocking news did not however affect the desire for ice and the love for hockey Boyle who, after a couple of months of treatments, was back on track on November 1, 2017.
On 9 November, in the home game against Edmonton Oilers, the Devils striker returned to the goal, melting into tears: "I have never cried after a goal before now ... it's a wonderful feeling. That's all!".
For Boyle, the most exciting moment during those dark months is the one experienced on the evening of November 24, 2017, during the Hockey Fights Cancer Night, an annual event during which the National Hockey League promotes charity initiatives for cancer research.
In a sold out Prudential Center full of signs marked "BOYLE STRONG" the Devils striker scored his second goal of the season: the Prudential Center literally exploded and the audience began to sing choruses dedicated to the player: "I will always remember this day.It was a great inspiration for me to meet people and especially children who are forced to live with cancer ... and then see the reception of the fans and their reaction to the goal left me speechless" .
The person who inspired him most, giving him the courage not to give up, was the little Abdiel Collazo, a child only 8 years old, a fan of the Devils, who has been fighting for more than 4 years against leukemia.
On the occasion of the Hockey Fights Cancer event, little Abdiel was hired for one day by his favorite team as Assistant Coach, "guiding" the morning training sessions of the team and taking part in the inaugural puck-drop of the evening, together with the family of Boyle.
"Try to imagine what this child has been through and what his family has lived in these years. The tumor is unfair, does not look at anyone, affects anyone, even the smallest. Seeing how Abdiel has been dealing with this tragedy for years, always with a smile on his lips, gave me an extra boost to not give up ".
That evening, many sick children, and not only, have seen in Boyle an example and an inspiration. Simply, a boy who tried not to give up, in the face of the disease.
Today, finally, after a year of calvary, the tumor seems to have disappeared!
Unfortunately, not everyone has been as lucky as him and, of course, willpower alone is not enough to heal a tumor!
The message that, however, Boyle wanted to convey in recent months is to not give up in front of the difficulties, even the worst, not to get down, but to try living a normal life and enjoy every single, however small, joy daily.
"I feel it as a precise responsibility: I will do everything to give hope to those who have lived and experience this experience"
Boyle, in 2018 was also rewarded with the Bill Masterton Trophy, delivered to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportiness and dedication to ice hockey.
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