Cancer has touched Stuart Boardman’s life more times than most - first through the people he loved and later through his own diagnoses.
His experience with cancer is why Stuart believes strongly in doing what he can to help future generations, including leaving a gift in his will to support cancer research.
A family history of cancer
Cancer first entered Stuart’s life when his father was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1969. He sadly died just 6 months later when Stuart was only 15.
It never crossed my mind that it would take his life. I naturally, and maybe naively, believed my father would get better.
“It was a shocker for me ... that was the hardest day of my life.”
His death shaped the course of Stuart’s life, influencing his values and later inspiring him to become a high school physical education teacher.
After he died, Stuart spent summers at Wanapitei Lake, with his cousins and Uncle Bob, who became a sort of father figure to him.
In 2009, Bob died after being in and out of the hospital for leukemia, prostate cancer and melanoma.
Facing his own cancer diagnosis
After Bob died, Stuart retired after 31 years of teaching, and he and his wife Elaine decided to renovate their cottage.
In 2020, while clearing leaves from the cottage roof, Stuart slipped and fell face-first onto a rock. He came out of the fall with a broken nose which he fixed on the spot, but he visited the hospital to make sure he was okay.
During testing, doctors noticed something concerning in one of the lobes in his prostate, and a follow-up exam a year later showed that Stuart had advanced prostate cancer.
Stuart remembers the shock vividly.
My doctor said, ‘You got cancer,’ but I didn't want to believe it.
Stuart had surgery, followed by radiation and hormone therapy.
The treatments were effective but not easy. Stuart struggled with side effects like fatigue and incontinence, but he remained focused on recovery.
Looking back, he’s grateful the cancer was discovered when it was.
If I hadn't had that fall, it might have been 3 more years before they discovered my cancer. And who knows how much further it would have gotten along.
Dealing with a second diagnosis
As Stuart was beginning to feel like himself again, he got some tragic news about another member of his family. His cousin who he used to spend the summers with sadly died of throat cancer.
During this time, Stuart was also dealing with a bad knee that had been getting worse since his thirties, and it reached the point where surgery was necessary.
Weeks before his knee surgery, Stuart was golfing and accidentally stepped on a red ant hill.
He was given medicine for the rash and didn’t think much of it, until he got a call from his surgical team saying they couldn’t go through with the operation because of unusual readings from his blood test.
What his healthcare team initially thought was a reaction to the allergy drugs, turned out to be Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia, a rare but aggressive form of blood cancer.
Stuart was hospitalized for 4 weeks and began an intense chemotherapy treatment that included 2 injections of arsenic and 5 chemotherapy pills twice a day. This was followed by an 8-month outpatient treatment with the same medicine.
“When I sent a message out to my relatives and friends, I actually said I'm lucky. I feel fortunate that I had my knee surgery scheduled and that it's this specific leukemia because it’s treatable. It could be a lot worse.”
In 2025, Stuart was diagnosed with cancer for a 3rd time when he learned his prostate cancer had returned.
He began another round of radiation and ongoing hormone therapy.
Throughout every diagnosis and treatment, one constant has been his wife, Elaine.
Stuart speaks openly about the importance of having a strong partner, adding that her support has been inspiring.
“Too often we forget the toll these illnesses take on our spouse,” he says.
I am extremely fortunate to have such a strong and dedicated wife beside me in every crisis I have faced.
Leaving a legacy
For Stuart, cancer research is deeply personal. He has seen firsthand how survival rates have changed in his lifetime and knows this progress is only possible because of donor support.
“My father had testicular cancer in a time where hardly anybody survived it,” Stuart reflects.
“Years later, I met someone young with the same cancer - and he lived. That’s research.”
Stuart is especially thankful for the generations before him that funded cancer research. Elaine says it’s because of them that Stuart is alive today.
We’re benefitting from other people’s willingness to give. Without their gifts, he would not have survived.
This belief has ultimately led him and his wife Elaine to make a planned gift in their will to the Canadian Cancer Society.
“We all know people who have had cancer. And many people who have would have passed away years gone by are now living a healthy life because of the advancements in research.”
“It’s our duty to give, and we believe the cancer society is a very worthwhile cause that benefits millions of people.”
Help save lives from one generation to the next
Your will is a powerful way to care for the people you love, while creating a lasting legacy with a gift that reflects what feels meaningful to you.
Making a legacy gift to the Canadian Cancer Society holds the potential to save lives in Canada and globally. These legacies serve as enduring symbols of hope, with an impact that lasts for generations to come.
I chose to include a gift to the Canadian Cancer Society in my will because, for me, it’s the most personal and worthwhile cause to donate to.
Stuart Boardman, cancer survivor and legacy donor
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