Presented by RBC Wealth Management, Wellspring’s Well Dressed for Spring is a fashion event like no other. Hosted by Canadian fashion icon Jeanne Beker on March 27, 2024, the evening features models who have been touched by cancer, either having been diagnosed themselves or as a caregiver to someone with cancer. For more info, visit: https://give.wellspring.ca/event/welldressed
Alec Kennedy had been feeling tired for a few days, and it wasn’t until he was at the supermarket with his sister when he knew something wasn’t right. “I couldn’t walk down the aisle,” Alec says.
“He went from 100% down to zero in a day,” says Alec’s father, Ian. His family rushed him to the hospital where, after multiple tests, he was diagnosed with leukemia. “I was shocked,” Alec says.
In a matter of days, Alec went from being an energetic 33-year-old working for Metro, to needing regular tests and treatments. “I was sad. I just got transferred to a new job and had to stop working,” says Alec.
The news came after a very happy and exciting year for the Walker-Kennedy family. Alec was now an uncle and his sister had just married and he acquired a new brother-in-law. “So, this was the last thing we were expecting,” says Ian and Susan.
However, Alec took this new diagnosis in stride. He mentions how he made the decision to ask a friend to shave all his hair off last year after it was starting to fall out in the hospital. “I was feeling stressed before I shaved it off and after I felt great,” says Alec.
Alec’s friends and family members had been “amazing” during his diagnosis and treatment. “Family is the most important,” says Alec.
“One of our family friends created a Google Doc so people could sign up for phone calls, which meant Alec had a regular schedule of people contacting him every day while he was in hospital,” says Ian.
After his hospital stay, Alec was introduced to Wellspring through Susan speaking with the social worker at Princess Margaret Hospital, asking what resources were available for Alec. Alec regularly attends the Healing Journey program with his mom and has signed up for the eight-week exercise program, which he can’t wait to start. “He is looking forward to being a little more active,” says Susan.
Alec doesn’t want his cancer to define him, promising to keep living life to the fullest. Despite the two and a half years of ongoing treatment ahead of him, he continues to enjoy doing yoga, attending trivia nights, watching movies, spending quality time with his girlfriend, dance pizza parties with his family, and hanging out with his friends. “I have great friends,” says Alec.
Alec is a proud volunteer of the Down Syndrome Association in Toronto, and he has many other dreams that he wants to fulfil. They include developing a mobile app, working for the Down Syndrome Association, and becoming a model – which he will be fulfilling on March 27, when he will walk the runway for Well Dressed for Spring. “It was a dream of mine in the past to be a model – I’ll be great with the posing!” says Alec.
Alex is walking in Wellspring’s 2024 Well Dressed for Spring event.
