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Shortly after the National Hockey League's initial creation of Hockey Fights Cancer, I learned of the creation of a magnificent work of sports art created by a sports artist by the name of Murray Henderson. The piece, inspired by Hockey Fights Cancer, depicts famous hockey tough guys united together (regardless of the uniform they are wearing), unafraid of the fight to come. I am the referee depicted in the piece.
I was deeply touched to be honored in such a way by Murray, and it was the least I could do to recruit others to sign our names to the print to raise money for Hockey Fights Cancer. You can see photos below of the print and my first meeting with Murray in 1999.
Sadly, the insidious beast called cancer later struck Murray's family in a deeply personal way, as Hodgkin's Lymphoma took the life of his teenage stepdaughter, Courtney. The family created a cancer patient direct support fund called Courtney's Legacy Fund in her memory.
Now, I will turn the rest of today's blog over to Murray to tell his story of the creation of the original print and of Courtney.
Please help support https://t.co/6PJq0J4BNQ and Hockey Fights Cancer. Story on HockeyBuzz. pic.twitter.com/VtU2wP2TzC
— Paul Stewart (@PaulStewart22) November 2, 2017
HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER AND COURTNEY'S LEGACY FUND By Murray Henderson
In 1999, while watching an NHL game with my family, I was touched by referee Paul Stewart's call for cancer awareness. That was the first time I heard about Hockey Fights Cancer. I knew Paul was a tough guy in his playing days and moving into the referee position, he saw the fights from both sides. On top of those fights , he was now fighting for his life.
Myself being a sports artist, I thought to myself, why not create my own choice of the toughest guys to ever play in the NHL. These were my own personal picks: Don Cherry (coach) Conn Smyth (manager) John Ferguson,Tony Twist,Tiger Williams,Terry O'Reilly, Bob Probert, Wendel Clark, Tie Domi, Ted Lindsay, Eddie Shore, Dave "the Hammer" Schultz, Tim Hunter, Dave Semenko and Referee Paul Stewart.
I got in touch with Stewy and told him about my print. the NHL granted me approval, and we started getting the guys to autograph them. My wife Heather, step daughters Courtney and Brittany and myself made our way around Ontario to get the signatures. It was quite exciting to meet most of these gentlemen. I was very happy to do this and donate thousands of dollars to HFC. Fast-forward with no connection and so ironic: In February 2008 ,our family was rocked by horrible news. Our beautiful Courtney was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
Courtney was 15 years old and had everything going for her. She fought harder than anyone I know or will ever know. She lost her fight on August 7 2009. Her doctor later told us she couldn’t believe how much she endured. The loss of a loved one through death is difficult, whether that loved one was a child, parent, sibling, spouse, or friend. It is often important for survivors to cope with their grief by attempting to honor the memory of that loved one.
"It was absolutely devastating losing Courtney," says her mother Heather Henderson. "After she was gone, something pushed us to do this, to make this fund a reality. She asked to be remembered, and have her story told. It is like somewhere, somehow Courtney was pushing us on."
The Henderson family which consists of Heather. sister Brittany Morrison and step-father Murray Henderson created Courtney's Legacy Fund and began to hold an annual celebrity fundraising fishing tournament and dinner gala called "Fishing for the Cure."
We have helped many families with money from Courtney’s Legacy Fund to help make their tough fight a little more manageable. Courtney was very passionate about raising awareness towards her cancer, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. She noticed that there wasn’t much in form of education and help towards her cancer, always hearing only of other cancers.
We have found great comfort in creating Courtney's Legacy Fund and will continue to do the best we can to honor Courtney and keep her memory alive. The Fund proceeds go directly to providing compassionate comfort to families and friends of cancer patients in need of support. Please visit CourtneysLegacyFund.com for more information or to make a donation.