Hospitalized with Leukemia, CAT Pickering Grad Honored by Classmates

What Happened to Daniel

At first, Daniel Proulx-Cook, 18, thought the bruises that appeared this spring on his hands and arms were just from his part-time job at Boston Market. He was working hard was all. The CAT Pickering senior didn’t go to the doctor until blood appeared in his urine. 

Things moved quickly from there.

On May 8, he was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia–a strain of the cancer characterized by anemia, easy bruising and bleeding (APL patients suffer from coagulotherapy, which prevents their blood from properly clotting), and an extreme susceptibility to fever and infection. 

30 years ago, the diagnosis would have been a death sentence. But while the mortality rate of the illness has since been curbed by the development of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) treatment–a derivative of vitamin A that APL is uniquely sensitive to–it’s still a beast, especially at the teenager’s stage of the illness. 

“The cure rate is now at 80, 85 percent,” said Proulx-Cook’s older sister, Candice Job, 29, a nurse. “But most mortality is seen in the first two months.” 

Daniel is at the midpoint of this crucible, where even the medicine that's saving his life carries its own savage side-effects.

ATRA heightens the risk of, among other things, precisely the cerebral hemorrhages the disease itself makes Daniel more susceptible to. He's already had one stay in the ICU since starting his treatment course. Then there’s the cost. ATRA runs at $60,000 a month, only 60 percent of which is covered by his single-mother’s insurance. To help defray this expense–which is compounded by the wages his mother has lost since taking an unpaid leave from work to care for him–Daniel’s family has established a fundraising page on the website Give Forward.

(Click here to view the site and make a donation.)

In spite of all this, his sister says the stoic teenager–spare with his words, generous of spirit–has maintained a remarkably even keel.

“I always thought of Daniel as an older soul, wise beyond his years. He’s acting the same way with this disease.”

The Other Thing That Happened to Daniel

Cancer ruins nothing as much as plans. Proulx-Cook was supposed to attend the Pennsylvania College of Technology in the fall to pursue a career as a physician’s assistant. Now that will have to wait, at least, another year.

He was also scheduled to graduate from high school on June 4, but because of his low white blood cell count and high risk of infection, he had to settle for watching a live stream of the ceremony from his room at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, his mother by his side.

What he saw wasn't your average graduation.

Without prompting from staff, adults–authorities of any kind–the CAT Pickering seniors did something special for their friend: they honored him.

Each member of the graduating class wore orange “leukemia awareness” ribbons to the ceremony, several held pictures of Daniel, and the students even arranged for the Phoenixville Fire Department’s Engine 65–the department has used since last month as a vehicle for raising funds to fight cancer locally–to come by the graduation for an impromptu fundraiser.

“The students initiated it on their own,” said Pickering Principal Debbie Noel. “I should say I'm suprised, but it’s really an inspiring group.”

Job said she was overwhelmed by the gesture, while Daniel, as usual, took it all in stride.

“He’s the kind of strong silent type. He isn’t gonna say much,” she said. 

“But my mom and me kind of cried about it.”

Visit 'Dollars for Daniel' here to make a direct donation to help the teen, and his family, fight leukemia.