Algonquin College student’s death inspires family to raise money for cancer research
Catherine Bourdeau and Janelle Blais are mourning an irreplaceable loss: the passing of Jonathan Bettles, Bourdeau’s beloved 19-year-old brother and Blais’s cherished cousin.
“He recognized that his cancer was pretty rare and aggressive, and even through that, he wanted to fight,” Bourdeau said. “But I think he wanted to help out anybody that he could help who was going through something similar, so the next person wouldn’t have to go through what he did, that there would be something to help.”
“It’s been hard for the whole family, for sure,” Blais said. “We lost someone that was a big person in our life.”
Bettles was a construction student at Algonquin College who died at the beginning of April. He had a type of lymphoma cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system, which is part of the body’s germ-fighting immune system.
“Even through all his treatments, he still had a good sense of humour,” Blais said. “When we would visit him in the hospital, he would always have something witty to say.”
No matter what he went through, Bettles continued to be a shining light in everyone’s eyes. He never stopped cracking jokes to lighten the mood, effortlessly turning even the most sad moments into laughter-filled memories.
“He had a personality that just pulled people in,” Bourdeau said.
Bettles was a part of a beer hockey league, a community that brought him joy and camaraderie, where he spent most of his time.
His beer league came together and supported Bettles. They all buzzed their hair in support and pooled their money to buy him a Lego set, which was one of the things that kept Bettles busy at home while going through his chemo treatments.
His cousin, Jérémie Blais, came up with the idea.
“I just wanted to support Johnny and make him feel more comfortable with the situation he was in,” Jéréme Blais said. “Because with the chemo, he was losing his hair and everything, so I just thought it would be a great idea to get all the guys together and just show our support towards him. So we all decided to shave our heads.”
Bettles cared and gave so much to his family and community. Along with Bourdeau and Janelle Blais, Bettles started a fundraiser for the CAR-T cell therapy research. This type of therapy is a way to get immune cells called T-cells to fight cancer by changing them in the lab to make them into a weapon against other cancer cells.
“Go big or go home,” he would say, and they did, by raising $10,000 over their goal. They continue to raise money for cancer research and honour his life.
People can visit their page and donate on the Ottawa Hospital Foundation’s website.
