‘I still have a lot to do as a dad’: Cancer survivor hopes his story might help others

A Windsorite describes a hockey injury as a blessing, which led to a cancer diagnosis. CTV Windsor’s Bob Bellacicco reports.

It was a surprising turn of events for Dan Anger after he broke his arm during a beer league hockey game in February of last year.

“Just a simple stick lift type situation and I felt something pop in my arm,” Anger told CTV News. “In hindsight, it’s a blessing that my arm broke.”

Anger was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with a spiral fracture in his left humerus. “Appointment after appointment, the doc said every four weeks, come back. It’s going to heal naturally.”

Feeling it wasn’t healing naturally enough, Anger asked for surgery. A two-hour procedure in late June took four and included two blood transfusions.

“When I woke up from the surgery, my surgeon came up and said, there’s a problem. We need to do some more testing.” Anger explained. The doctor found a lesion and discovered his bone was hollow. He remained in hospital for nine days of testing before returning home in early July.

Then the call.

“Mr. Anger, you have cancer, so he gave me the full diagnosis. It was osteosarcoma. He said in the past that was a death sentence. That’s what Terry Fox had.”

After rounds of chemo he was told, if he kept his arm, there was a 60 per cent chance the cancer would come back.

“My first thought was my kids,” Anger said. “It was life over limb. I still have a lot to do as a dad. I got a little girl to walk down the aisle. I got a son to teach the ropes. So it was, it was an easy decision.”

After surgery to remove his arm and more chemo, Anger was cleared on Dec. 23, much to his relief.

“Yeah,” Anger said while taking an emotional deep breath. “Best Christmas present ever.”

A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help Anger raise money for a prosthetic arm in order to return to the father, husband, coach and friend he was before. His journey put life into perspective and he is sharing his story to help others who are dealing with or who might have to deal with cancer one day.

“Give them hope. That’s all I need and that’s what the community has done for me. I’ve been given a gift, and I’d like to give back.”