A childhood cancer diagnosis
Throughout treatment, Aidan’s aunt, Dianne Andernacht, stayed with him in the hospital and supported her brother – Aidan’s father – her sister-in-law, and their other 2 young sons.
Despite how young Aidan was when he had to go through intense treatment, Dianne remembers how resilient he was throughout.
“As awful as it was that it happened to a little boy, Aidan was so resilient because he didn’t understand. He went through it like a champ,” Dianne says.
Having spent so much time with Aidan during his most difficult times, he and Dianne remain close. Because of all the people in Dianne’s life who have been affected by cancer, she has spent over a decade fundraising for the Canadian Cancer Society, naming Aidan as the reason she began.
“To see Aidan healthy and thriving as a young adult is a miracle. When he was diagnosed at 3 years old, we weren’t sure what chances he had. And seeing him now – I call him my miracle boy. It’s so wonderful,” Dianne says.
Let's Body Check Cancer: A hockey fundraiser for cancer
Hockey has always been part of Dianne’s family. When Aidan was diagnosed, the family’s support largely came from their hockey community. Knowing the impact of cancer didn’t end with Aidan’s treatment, Dianne decided to continue with her contribution to the cancer cause.
“The community came together when Aidan was diagnosed, and I started fundraising to help. It was my way to say, ‘Thank you everybody for helping out, but I have to keep going because it doesn’t end here.’”
Dianne later had the idea to host a hockey tournament cancer fundraiser, and she approached a few friends who she played hockey with. The 5 friends all had their own connections to cancer – each of them having lost close family members.
In 2015, they decided to host their first tournament and called the event Let’s Body Check Cancer. With 8 teams participating in the first year, the event raised $10,000.
For the first few years, Dianne’s team had called themselves Team Aidan. He even did the puck drop in the event’s first year when he was 10 years old.
When Aidan was 19, he played with Dianne’s team and scored a goal.
“To see that the team was in his honour and for him to come out and play was nice,” Dianne says.
Even without advertising, Let’s Body Check Cancer has grown significantly since 2015. Over 10 years, they’ve raised over $1 million. Just through word-of-mouth in the hockey community, the number of participating teams has increased each year. Online donations in 2026 alone exceeded $129,000.
The fundraiser has only continued to grow and receive support from the hockey community, with the founders even receiving requests to expand the event across Canada.
“I want others to know there’s an opportunity to make a difference. Please don’t just sit by on the sidelines. If we all put our energy into making a difference, you’d be surprised at what you can accomplish,” Dianne says. “We saw how our community came out, and there is so much generosity out there. When you surround yourself with those people, anything can happen.”
Help us change the future of childhood cancer
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. By uniting to support children and families affected by cancer, we can help change the future of countless lives. When you donate to the Canadian Cancer Society, you help us fund research to improve treatments, outcomes, as well as support programs for children and families such as Camp Goodtimes.
“It’s important to continue supporting the Canadian Cancer Society because the words ‘cancer’ and ‘child’ should never be in the same sentence. My sister-in-law said that, and it always resonated with me. No one should be going through cancer, no matter their age. We can’t sit by on the sidelines,” Dianne says.
I want others to know there’s an opportunity to make a difference. Please don’t just sit by on the sidelines.
Help create a future without cancer
With support from readers like you, we can continue to make a meaningful impact for people affected by cancer.
We are determined to increase survival, stop cancer before it starts, and improve lives. But we can’t do it without you.
If everyone reading this gave just $5, we could achieve our goal this month to fund the most promising research, compassionate support and transformative advocacy. Please give today because every contribution counts. Thank you.