Patrick Bélec, of Sudbury, Ont., is a recipient of our Volunteer of Distinction Advocacy Award. 

The recipient of this award is an outstanding volunteer who demonstrates exceptional dedication, interest and enthusiasm for brain tumour awareness. Recipients of this award are distinguished by their leadership and commitment to advocating for brain tumour health research and innovation in Canada. 

What inspired you to start volunteering? 

I was diagnosed with a craniopharyngioma at the age of 18, as I was beginning my studies in nursing. I needed three surgeries and 30 radiation treatments, all within six months. The following year, I joined the Sudbury support group. I wanted to meet others who had lived experiences similar to mine and seek support, as well as support them in the best way I could. 

Volunteers often “wear many hats.” What hats have you worn as a volunteer and can you share how and when you got involved? I noticed that as I spoke to people about my experience, not many people were aware of brain tumours. I had only had one best friend, Mélanie, who I knew had a brain tumour, but I didn’t know much about her journey as we were quite young when she had her treatments. 

Six years after I joined the support group, I was offered the opportunity to volunteer as the support group convenor, and I seized it with both hands. I’ve been in this role ever since. I wanted to support and advocate for people affected by brain tumours (patients, family and friends), and realized that being a convenor for the Sudbury support group was the perfect opportunity to achieve these goals while providing a unique set of skills as a patient, but also as a registered nurse. 

What is your fondest memory of volunteering? 

By far, the volunteer training of 2019! There is so much good that comes from gathering volunteers; people who sacrifice time, energy and their passion toward one common goal, in a room. Getting to brainstorm new ways to improve their support groups, or the local walks, was just the beginning of a great adventure! A handful of the volunteers, most of us survivors, and I went to a restaurant which had karaoke! We had a blast that evening! That night allowed me to meet my best friend, Brandon, who has since been my “brain tumour bro,” as we like to say. I got to see Denis Raymond sing his heart out to the song (out of many), I Feel Good by James Brown. Denis was a fierce brain advocate, BTFC staff, and friend who passed away from glioblastoma in 2022. For a moment during that song, I looked around the room. The restaurant was half-filled with brain tumour warriors, all facing past, present and future challenges, fights and struggles together as one. I looked up to Denis, whom I had gotten to know more over the training, knowing a sliver of what he had gone through (and he had been through A LOT!), singing that song as if all his worries were gone. It filled me with pride, motivation and fuelled my passion to keep pushing, on the days when I didn’t “feel good.”

That night, together, as volunteers with a common shared experience, we all felt good! 

With Brain Cancer Awareness Day and Hats for Hope in mind, what message of hope would you share with others in the brain tumour community? 

We may face different brain tumours, live thousands of kilometres from each other, have different religions, cultures, values and opinions, but support will always be given by the brain tumour community to those who open themselves to it. You are never alone in your fight. Don’t be afraid to reach out!