Two years after losing 6 year old Edmonton Oilers superfan Ben Stelter to cancer, proton therapy will now be making it’s way to the nation of Canada in order to help treat Canadian cancer patients of all ages.
Ben caught the hearts of all Oilers fans back on March 24th of 2022, during a pregame skate and became an honorary ambassador for the team shortly after, developing friendships with the entire Oilers roster up until the end of their Playoff run and his passing on August 9th.
Oilers captain Connor McDavid became close with Ben and his family. Back in December, he traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with Ben’s parents, Mike and Lea, and visited the Perelman Center For Advanced Medicine to support Mike, who now has a cancer tumor of his own, during his out of country treatments. The Ben Stelter Foundation was named after Ben in his honor, and they wanted to help bring cancer treatment to Canada after making that visit. Before this news, Canada was the only country in the G8 to not provide this sort of treatment.
It’s incredible to hear that Canadians will be able to get this treatment without having to leave the country, and they can have their families near them for support. This new facility is expected to be up and running in the Alberta capital some time in 2027, and will be named the Ben Stelter Center For Proton Therapy And Neuroscience. Ben will never be forgotten, his legacy will keep living on for decades with this project now being put in place for the first time in Canadian history.
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