Cody defeats the odds with ice-hockey

June 23, 2016

As a little boy Cody had extra ocular retinoblastoma and lost one eye. He had very aggressive treatment with chemotherapy, was unable to walk properly and was constantly burning up.

Now 9 years old and experiencing good health, Cody is a big ice hockey fan and discovered a passion for the sport after attending The Canada Club of Victoria’s ice skating event held for Very Special Kids last year.

“Cody was so inspired and excited after last year’s CCV invite” says his mother Ami, “he started inline hockey straight away and we started going to watch Melbourne Ice every time they had a game in Melbourne.”

Earlier this year Cody was ice skating before a hospital appointment, and a staff member suggested that he might like to attend the Ice Hockey Academy this term.

Not only has he made some great friends through this experience, Cody has become exceptionally talented for such a young boy with his condition.

Cody now learns from the best with coaches from Melbourne Ice and even some who play for Australia internationally.

Ami told us that attending the CCV event was equally as important to her, “I was born in Canada but had only been back a couple of times, and it’s great to reconnect with the culture and share it with Cody”.

We are so happy here at Very Special Kids to hear such a great outcome from one of our fundraising events, and incredibly grateful to Canada Club of Victoria for continuing to run this fantastic day.

Inspiration stems from the smallest things, and for a boy who has defeated odds, he has done incredibly well. Cody who was inspired by the Ice Hockey players can now be inspiration to other children alike, so thank you Ami and Cody for sharing your amazing story with us.

The Canada Club of Victoria are once again offering free ice skating to all Very Special Kids families and supporters as part of their Canada Day celebrations. This will commence at 3.30pm on Saturday 25 June at O’Brien Group Arena, 105 Pearl River Road, Docklands and run until about 4.45pm.

Tickets to the game between Melbourne Ice and Sydney Bears starting at 5pm are available through the Melbourne Ice website.