The medical prognosis for a Port Moody hockey player battling to overcome a glioblastoma tumour on his brain has taken a turn for the worse.
Wade MacLeod is scheduled to undergo his sixth brain surgery today, Nov. 19.
But in an update posted Nov. 13 to a GoFundMe page raising money to support MacLeod’s ongoing treatments as well as support his young family, his wife, Karly, said the operation will likely only remove 60 per cent of the tumour, which will give them "more time as well as help reduce some of the side effects he has been experiencing to help prolong his quality of life.”
MacLeod, 37, was first diagnosed in 2013 after he collapsed during an American Hockey League (AHL) game in Springfield, Mass.
Doctors subsequently removed a non-cancerous tumour the size of a golf ball from the left side of MacLeod’s brain and after extensive speech and physical therapy to restore his ability to talk and regain his strength, the left-winger was able to resume his playing career.
Following stints with various teams in the ECHL and a 34-game run with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, MacLeod headed to Germany where he scored 61 points in 50 games for the second-division Rosenheim Star Bulls.
But during the off-season, as he prepared to return to Germany, MacLeod got sick again.
In September 2016, he had a second surgery to remove another tumour, this time diagnosed as a cancerous glioblastoma.
Six months later, MacLeod was back on the ice with the ECHL’s Allen Americans in Texas.
“I’m here now and I’m ready to play,” he told the team’s broadcaster, Tommy Daniels.
MacLeod scored 13 points in 13 games and added another eight in 11 playoff games.
The following September, he signed with another German team, the second-division Frankfurt Lions.
MacLeod scored at a point-a-game pace and he was getting ready to return for a third season in Germany when he had another seizure in September 2018.
This time doctors removed a Grade 3 glioblastoma tumour and MacLeod embarked on a six-month course of chemotherapy along with speech, occupational and physical therapy. He also implemented dietary changes and took special hyperthermia treatments that use high temperatures to kill cancer cells.
MacLeod told the Tri-City News he was determined not to let cancer end his playing career.
When he got the all-clear to resume training in November 2020, MacLeod began intensive workouts on and off the ice with his trainer Kai Heinonen and veteran NHL defenseman Brad Hunt.
The following August, MacLeod said he was in the best shape of his life as he prepared to play for the Manchester Storm of Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League.
“It all worked out,” MacLeod said. “The biggest thing is never give up on your dreams and always stay positive.”
His time in England lasted just seven games.
MacLeod signed another contract with the Narvik Arctic Eagles in the top division of Norway’s hockey league.
But in June 2023, MacLeod conceded his hockey career had come to an end. Four brain operations and three comebacks had exacted a toll.
“I gave all my life to hockey and now it is time to turn the page,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Following another surgery last December, MacLeod was diagnosed with a Grade 4 glioblastoma — the most serious and aggressive form of the disease.
A GoFundMe campaign to help cover his medical expenses raised almost half its $100,000 goal in just three days, along with well-wishes from across the hockey world where MacLeod had played, from his BC Hockey League days in Merritt, to his college career at Northeastern University and his multitude of pro stops in North America and Europe.
The fundraiser’s goal has since been boosted to $250,000, of which $129,883 has already been amassed.
Karly MacLeod said the past several weeks have been very difficult as Wade suffered “some very concerning and sudden changes,” including instability and speech problems.
“We were at first worried he may have had a small stroke,” she said.
Instead, blood work showed MacLeod had a serious infection and a subsequent CT scan showed some bleeding on his brain and progression of his tumour.
“Hearing the reality of what we are now living with and facing is completely heartbreaking and unimaginable,” Karly MacLeod said, adding the couple has always been forthright and honest with their two young daughters about their father’s illness.
“Despite the harsh statistics we have once again been faced with, Wade is not giving up on his fight,” she said.
“He is truly our hero.”
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