It may have made him miss out on some classes, parties and a few memories, but Dennon Leibel didn’t let cancer get in the way of graduation.
Leibel managed to join the 150 other Clarence Fulton Secondary Class of 2014 students for grad Thursday and Friday in between cancer treatment.
“I was supposed to start treatment Friday but they worked around it and scheduled it for Monday,” said Leibel, who is heading back to Vancouver today.
The North Okanagan Knight hockey player has been battling a rare type of cancer, Ewings Sarcoma.
While he’s traded in his hockey hair for a Pittsburgh Penguin ball cap (over his bald head), he still sports the same determination he did on the ice.
Listening to some of his buddies’ future plans, which include going to Alberta to work, going to Thailand and travelling, Leibel was quick to chime in.
“I’m going to go up north and then I want to become a cop,” said Leibel of his future plans.
But first, he is eager to catch up on some of the teenage memories he’s missed once his treatments are over.
He also has plans to start re-sharpening his hockey skills this year and hopefully be back in the game the following year.
Friends Melina Boehm and Alexandra Walton also have big plans for the future. But first, they’re taking a break from the books.
“We’re both taking a year off for work,” said Walton, who made her own grad dress.
Then: “I’m going into design and Melina’s going to school to work with foster kids.”
