'His legacy is going to live on': Ben Stelter Foundation helps bring advanced cancer treatment to Canada with new Edmonton facility
Edmonton is set to become the first Canadian city to offer an advanced form of cancer radiation treatment.
On Thursday, WestCan Proton Therapy Inc. announced plans to bring proton therapy to the capital city in a new facility named for Oilers superfan Ben Stelter, who died at age 6 of cancer in 2022.
"Knowing that this proton therapy is coming here because of Ben, and it's kind of coming to Canada because of Ben, truly means that his legacy is going to live on forever and help so many people," said Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid.
The Ben Stelter Centre for Proton Therapy and Neuroscience is being developed in partnership with the Ben Stelter Foundation and Edmonton Global.
Proton therapy is more targeted than X-ray radiation, minimizing damage to healthy tissues and reducing the side effects experienced by patients.
Ashif Mawji, board chair of the Ben Stelter Foundation, said Canada is currently the only G7 country where the treatment is unavailable.
"It's really difficult for patients to have to travel to the United States for it," Mawji said. "You need your family as your support structure, and to have to travel away is just, it's just too difficult."
Ben's father, Mike Stelter, received the treatment in the U.S. after being diagnosed with cancer last spring.
"It was difficult to put into words how hard it was to be separated from my family for nine weeks," Stelter said at the announcement. "It puts an incredible strain on the family, along with a tremendous financial burden."
While the time away was painful, Stelter said the treatments were quick and painless. The new facility, he added, will be a huge step forward for Albertans and Canadians facing cancer.
"It's very important to us to ensure that if the Ben Stelter Foundation name is on anything, it needs to be world-class and supported by an all-star team, and I think we have this here today," he added.
The centre is expected to be up and running in early 2027, and will be able to treat around 240 patients a year.
Mawji said the partnership already has plans to expand with more facilities across Canada and the world.
"There are some other countries outside of the U.S. that are very interested in this too. And they'll all have the same Ben Stelter name," Mawji said.
The Ben Stelter Centre for Proton Therapy and neuroscience represents around $120 million in investment.
The project is expected to create 100 permanent positions and more than 250 jobs during construction.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.