Just happy to be here… really

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This article was published 04/07/2016 (3391 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Justin Woods couldn’t believe it. It had to be a mistake.

Like most 20-year-olds, he felt more or less invincible. The big defenceman had just finished his sophomore year at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.

A cyst on his knee had become uncomfortable in his freshman year, causing it to swell up and other “weird stuff.” He decided to have it removed, giving him enough time to recover before accepting an invitation to the Winnipeg Jets 2014 development camp.

But on May 7, 2014, two days after he wrote his last exam, Woods was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a one-in-a-million bone-cancer diagnosis; roughly 250 Americans hear the same awful news each year.

Two surgeries, a month of radiation and chemotherapy — five days in a row every six weeks for 10 months — followed.

The silver lining, and what kept him positive early on, was the cancer was caught early, giving him anywhere between a 50 to 75 per cent chance of a successful recovery after the treatments in Seattle.

“My mom helped me the most. She’d get me up and out of my room when I didn’t want to do anything,” said Woods, still dripping sweat from Monday morning’s fitness and endurance testing at the Jets development camp. “I’d feel sad and sorry for myself but I was fortunate enough to have a ton of family and friends come down and visit me.”

Now 22, he looks back on his many blessings. His size — he’s 6-2 and north of 200 pounds — is the ideal build for a defenceman, reminiscent of superstars such as Drew Doughty and Duncan Keith. He’s a left-handed shot, a trait National Hockey League teams covet. And he possesses the intangibles scouts and general managers alike long for — a character guy who works hard and doesn’t fear the dirty areas of the ice.

Woods says he’s still shocked by the support he received during his darkest days. He gets emotional while recalling the NHL teams and college and professional players who reached out to him on Twitter and by other means. One was Providence College player Drew Brown, diagnosed the same week with the same rare form of cancer.

“We talked,” Woods said. “I called his family and our parents talked to each other, talking about what we were both going through.

A GoFundMe was set up in his name with the aim of raising US$15,000 to help pay his growing medical costs. Two days later, he’d received nearly triple that amount. And a silent auction with more than 90 items raised another US$25,650.

“Everyone was behind me,” he said, adding Jimmy Roy, the Jets co-ordinator of player development was instrumental in helping him maintain a positive attitude.

“He kept in contact with me throughout my whole treatment and he sent me all the Jets gear I would have gotten if I came here,” Woods said. “I wore those around the hospital all proud.”

Woods stepped back onto his hometown ice to a standing ovation last fall for UAF’s blue-gold game after missing the 2014-15 season, a surreal and emotional experience he struggles to find the words to describe. He played 34 games last season with the Nanooks, scoring five times and adding four assists.

And he’s back in Winnipeg, offered a second chance because, according to Roy, it’s the right thing to do.

“Justin was a player that we identified as an elite talent,” Roy said. “We felt as an organization that it was the right thing to do. Let’s do this right. This is what we’re about.”

Woods’ is back to the same size he was before his diagnosis and he’s stronger, too. But it doesn’t matter as much anymore. He’s been blessed with life, he said. The feeling of invincibility is gone. He doesn’t complain. He takes every stride on the ice like it’s his last. He celebrated a year of being cancer-free in February.

“A year and four months now,” he said, proudly.

Playing pro hockey is still the priority, though.

“The goal of getting through that rough patch was something pretty awesome that I achieved,” he said. “It’s now time to set the bar even higher and see what happens.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @scottbilleck