He was a young man a long way from home, fighting leukemia in the cancer ward at Princess Margaret Hospital, and he badly wanted to watch an important hockey game.
But his credit card was maxed out, so the plug got pulled on the television set he was renting. The young man from Timmins could watch the game in the public area, if he could find the strength to get there.
It was an experience that left a very bad taste in the mouth of huge sports fan James Dinneen, who lay in the next bed to the resident from northern Ontario, who died five months later.
Dinneen mentioned it to his father Jim and his mother Janet as they brought him his lunch and supper each day from Mississauga (James refused on principle to eat hospital food.) He mentioned it to his brothers from Sigma Nu, the University of Toronto fraternity he joined when he moved downtown to live on campus after one year at UTM.
James had been a strapping specimen of a young man until he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia Dec. 9, 2002. In the next 11 months, he would spend 222 days in the hospital, fighting for his life and for the rights of himself and his fellow patients.
Dinneen’s friends made sure he had a computer to entertain himself by tapping into the hospital phone lines but the 31-year-old was bothered that others, who weren’t lucky enough to be wrapped in a loving circle of family and friends, suffered endless boredom along with the burden of their fatal disease.
Now his parents and his younger sister Jacquelyn, a physical education teacher at Shelter Bay Public School, are launching a charity to help other patients in the same situation as the young man in the bed next to James.
CHIP (Communities Helping Individual Patients) has been in the works since a few months after James died Oct. 28, 2003. “Chip” was the nickname he adopted when he was a counsellor at CampTotoredaca in Meadowvale as a teen.
His father Jim explains that the first chapter of the program will start at Credit Valley Hospital, where those who can’t afford long-distance phone calls or the cost of a TV can get assistance. Eventually, the program could include laptops.
His parents say their son’s frat buddies, who were a tower of strength during his illness, have come through again to make their dream a reality. Javier Vargas, Edward Lounsbury and Jean-Pierre Laporte, among others, have provided great assistance. Laporte, a lawyer, suggested the program be set up as a registered charity and he did all the legal work gratis.
Laporte says his friend showed unbelievable courage in the face of death. A month before he died, James organized a charity roller hockey tournament from his bed that raised $10,000.
When he saw him two days before he died, Laporte says James was as cheerful as ever. One hand was swollen so badly that he couldn’t raise it but as Laporte left, James waved his good hand and said casually, “Talk to you later, eh?”
The launch of CHIP takes place Saturday Feb. 3 at Hollywood on The Queensway in Etobicoke where the owner, a former partner in P.K. Creek in Cooksville, has donated the space and the food. There will be door prizes, a presentation by Jacquelyn on CHIP, a silent auction, music and most, importantly, says James’ Dad, a great party. James always loved a good party. Tickets are $50.
All the information about CHIP is available at www.chipcharity.com.
Asked what a difference a program like this could have meant had it been in place for his son, Jim Dinneen doesn’t hesitate. “It would have meant so much to him just to have a web cam so he could have been able to say goodnight to his kids (Ryland now 8 and sister Tristan, now 5. ). That would have made a world of difference.”