For John Divo and his family, it’s the start of a new chapter and a second chance.
The former Kitchener Dutchmen hockey player was diagnosed with leukemia in 2013.
After a long search, a stem cell match was finally found.
Late Thursday night, after months of waiting, Divo got a stem cell transplant.
“You take a lot of things for granted in life,” said John Divo’s father through tears. “It’s hard. It’s tough.”
The Divo family doesn’t know who the donor is, only that he’s a 21-year-old man from either the United States or overseas.
Divo’s father wants the donor to know how much it means to their whole family.
“Thank you so much. You’re a hero.”
Doctors told Divo’s family that this transplant is his only option and recovery won’t be easy.
“From what the doctor has told us, it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better,” said John Divo Sr. “Right now they’re dropping his immune system down to zero so he’s going to have no immune system. No white blood cells.”
Divo will spend the next three weeks recovering in hospital, unable to leave his isolation room; he also has four more rounds of chemotherapy.
His family says they will be by his side throughout the recovery process and that he did extremely well.
A fundraising campaign has been set up to assist the family. If you'd like to donate you can do so here: 'Do it for Divo'
