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Scott Walker has some good news to share and many, many people to thank.
His wife Julie is now four weeks removed from her cancer surgery, and while she continues to recover, doctors have told her they believe she is now cancer free.
“My wife's doing great,” the Carolina Hurricanes forward said by telephone from his offseason home in Cambridge, Ontario. “We just want to thank everyone for all their love and support. We couldn't have done it without them.”
Julie Walker's cervical cancer became international news when she was diagnosed in the middle of the Hurricanes' playoff series against the Boston Bruins. The news came at a time when Scott Walker was also in the news – first for punching Aaron Ward, then for scoring the goal that ended the series.
Interviewed on television in the aftermath of the Game 7 overtime win, the sight of a moist-eyed, thick-voiced Walker shocked many Hurricanes fans who thought of him as carbide-hardened tough.
It wasn't until two days later, when the Walkers decided to go public with her health situation before the start of the Eastern Conference finals rather than have it leak out during the series, that Walker's postgame emotion was explained.
The news prompted an outpouring of sympathy that left the Walkers overwhelmed.
Now, with the surgery a success and her future once again bright, the Walkers wanted to extend their gratitude to the fans for their support, the media for respecting their privacy, Dr. Jack Inge and the doctors and staff at Rex Hospital for their care, and most of all the Hurricanes organization, coaches, players and wives for helping the Walker family get through this.
For Walker, it was an object lesson in the best people have to offer – and not just because he was a hockey player.
Those who play in the NHL long enough, or any professional sport for that matter, are prone to developing a certain degree of cynicism.
Sure, it's nice that people will bend over backward to help them, but in the back of their minds they know it's often because they're pro athletes.
Perhaps that's why the response to his wife's diagnosis broadsided him, from the calls from acquaintances across the continent to the fans who are participating in a charity bike ride in the Walkers' honor.
“It's amazing,” he said. “You always think people care about you because of who you are and what you do ... The people who were helping us weren't doing it for a pair of tickets. It's genuine.”
Julie Walker will have to be tested every six months to make sure the cancer doesn't come back, but that cloud no longer hangs over the family. The Walkers will spend their summer in Ontario, but they'll rejoin their extended family here in August.
“When you look back on it, now that we've had some time to reflect, it's amazing how much people care,” Walker said.
He also learned a thing or two about his wife's strength, watching from afar as she held the family together while he spent four days on the road in Pittsburgh. He observed firsthand as she juggled luxury suites and hotel reservations for all the out-of-town family and friends for Games 3 and 4 of the Penguins series.
Walker, who scored five goals in the regular season – his fewest in seven years – and only one in the playoffs, has had better years as a hockey player.
He scored 67 points in 2003-04. He won a silver medal with Team Canada at the World Championships in 1999.
Those are his highlights on the ice. None were as special, Walker says, as this spring.
luke.decock@newsobserver.com,
(919) 829-8947.
