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Littlest fan's final joy sees Ottawa Senators off to Cup


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http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/new...7a-9344a27212f4

Littlest fan's final joy sees Ottawa Senators off to Cup

Katie Lewis, with files from Ken Warren, Ottawa Citizen

CanWest News Service

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

CREDIT: CanWest files

OTTAWA -- In the end, it was a hockey game Elgin-Alexander Fraser was not going to miss.

The three-year-old spent his last hours at home, nestled between family and friends on a mattress on the living-room floor in front of the television watching the Ottawa Senators reach the Stanley Cup finals.

His right lung had collapsed and he breathed loudly, wheezing. When it became too hard to keep his heavy-lidded eyes open, because of the morphine, his family whispered the play-by-plays to him.

"Go if you want to go now bud," said his father, Hamish Fraser to his wee son, who weighed just over 30 pounds. "You don't have to hang on."

But that night, Elgin saw the Senators win.

Two hours later, as his mother and father tightly held his hands and told him they loved him, he softly closed his eyes.

Afterwards, his mother Victoria Fraser washed him, clipped his nails and dressed him in a grey Senators jogging suit. She then cradled him in her arms for over an hour.

"Everything that happened just seemed to fall into place and everything felt right at that moment," she said.

Elgin died of a rare form of childhood cancer called neuroblastoma, and had captured the emotions of thousands who raised funds to fight cancer at charity events for him.

"He went peacefully," said his father, adding that his son loved hockey "more than anything," and was the Senator's biggest fan.

And they loved him too.

Elgin met the Senators after his family was introduced to Chris Phillips, a defenceman and father of two, and his wife, Erin Phillips, through mutual friends.

In April, Elgin found himself in a front-row seat at a practice as part of one of his final wishes. At the time, Mr. Fisher held Elgin while skating around the ice. Elgin also got a tour of the dressing room. Since then, Elgin had been to more than eight Senators games, including their final home game against the Buffalo Sabres last Wednesday.

Elgin's father said his son's room is littered with Senators paraphernalia -- from jerseys, to hockey sticks, to goalie masks.

"He loved to tear around and pretend to be players on the team," he said.

On Thursday, Senators centre Mike Fisher visited Elgin at home in Carleton Place, Ont. They watched a movie and played with toy cars, because Elgin was too weak to pick up his hockey stick.

Fraser talked to his son on the phone during the visit and asked Elgin to ask Fisher if the Senators were going to win the Stanley Cup.

"Okay, Dad, hold on," said Elgin over the phone.

"Mike," said Elgin, "You're going to win the Stanley Cup, right?"

"We sure are buddy," came the reply.

"Dad, he said yes," said Elgin, recalled Fraser.

Sunday, Fisher said he was saddened by the news and that he had thought about Elgin before the hockey game on Saturday night.

"The impact he had on me was incredible. With the things he went through and how well he handled them," said Fisher. "I was blessed to spend some time with him. He's in a better place, for sure."

Elgin was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a cancer of the nervous system, when he was nine months old. He went through a flurry of treatments, radiation, chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant and finally went into remission. Bad news came in January, as the cancer came back as the growing tumours took over his stomach and vertebrae.

By the end, Elgin's back was almost a solid mass of tumours, with fluid leaking into his lungs.

His doctors had told his family on Monday they didn't expect him to make it through the weekend.

Despite his pain, Elgin still managed to go to the Senators game on Wednesday, along with his mother, father and eight-month-old sister Alysston.

The brave little boy was decked out in his red Senators jersey, a sawed off hockey stick clenched tight in his hand.

"He didn't take his eyes off the game," said Fraser.

After the game, Elgin met some of the players, including Fisher, Ray Emery and Chris Phillips.

Phillips told Elgin that night that the Senators were going to win the next game on Saturday for him.

They did.

Elgin's funeral will be held on Thursday at the Carleton Place Arena.

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:(

Always tragic to hear of a kid so young that leaves this Earth way too soon.

It was great to read though that the Senators brought some joy to Elgin, and it seems Elgin had a positive effect on the Senators players that goes way beyound hockey.

Reading stories like this makes you realize what is really important.

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I read this the other night and it made me all sniffy... but at least he was happy right before, that is the most we can all hope for.

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My friend from Hawkesbury told me the funeral was today and had to be held in an arena because there were so many people. Mike Fisher and Chris Phillips were pall bearers.

She also mentioned discussion about a "Red Mile" for Ottawa.

"A fan in Ottawa took Calgary's the idea and thought Ottawa should have a red mile too! He suggested one of the wider, prettier streets in the downtown area would be perfect. And this was before the little one passed away.

The street? Elgin Street."

GO SENS GO!

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That's a sad story. It was nice of the Sens to do all that for him. It's too bad he couldn't hold on for a few more weeks to see the Sens play for the cup. Not that the Sens should really need any more motivation to win the Stanley Cup but this might give some of the players even more motivation.

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That is so sad.

The sens players who went to see him and brought him to watch them practice, and stayed with him at his house should know that even if they dont win the cup this year , they did something just as special for that kid and his family.

The media sometimes says that hockey isnt suitable for famlies or kids, this just proves them all wrong.

R.I.P Elgin

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You do realize that this is all symbolic. Little kids like Elgin pass away every day. This type of cancer is particularly nasty, but leukemia is no picnic either.

The Senators have picked up the "do it for Elgin" slogan just as they did "do it for Captain Video" against us. It really made the Devils look like the bad guys and makes the Ducks super-villians. As if there are no children in Anaheim that are dying of any horrible diseases.

I hope that they are able to use Elgin's story to raise money for CHEO. So far all this painful story has been used for is "Ottawa Senators good. Everyone else bad."

Edited by Don
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It's sad but it bothers me how he's being as used as a sort of mascot...

Well, I certainly feel the same way. But on the flip side, who in Ottawa is it hurting?

- the community outpouring of love for the little guy has helped the parents cope

- CHEO, the hospital that was taking care of Elgin is getting national attention and thus donations/funding

- the citizens of Ottawa have made Elgin part of their storyline... if they do win it all and they make a championship DVD, Elgin will likely have a starring role.

What I don't like about it is that it really is unfair ball. Are Anaheim going to have to go out and find a dying, blind girl in a wheelchair who's dying wish is for the DUCKS to win the Cup? I mean, where does this end?

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Well when they played us they found the couple that would marry only if they won... and that made people root for them instead of us.

No Im kidding. This wouldnt be a reason for me to vote for or against a team, its just a nice thing in general that I can appluad separately and not influence who I am rooting for.

Coincidentally, I am rooting for Ottawa, but that was before I heard about this!

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Well when they played us they found the couple that would marry only if they won... and that made people root for them instead of us.

No Im kidding. This wouldnt be a reason for me to vote for or against a team, its just a nice thing in general that I can appluad separately and not influence who I am rooting for.

Coincidentally, I am rooting for Ottawa, but that was before I heard about this!

Edited by LizDevil30
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