7-Year-Old Battling Leukemia Gets Special Visit from Karate Master at Hasbro Children’s Hospital
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
Seven-year-old Callan “Cal” Duquette — who is battling leukemia — was surprised at Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence on Tuesday by members of the Rhode Island Shotokan Karate Dojo, who recognized Duquette as “Student of the Month” to encourage him in his battle against cancer.
SEE PHOTOS OF THE VISIT BELOW
“I’ve been in martial arts for 22 years, and with [Shotokan] Master Linc for nearly 18 of the years,” said Cal’s mother Alli Duquette. “The dojo is like a family. While Cal hasn't started officially training with Master Linc, he is part of the family.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTDuquette was talking about Professor Larry “Linc” Martin at R.I.Shotokan Karate-do Shoju-kempo ryu Hombu Dojo HQ.
“[Master Linc] said we have to do everything we can to keep Cal’s spirit up, to help him battle through this. We're very fortunate that we have two dojo families. My kids also train with Jacob Rainville,” said Duquette, who noted that earlier on Tuesday, Cal had received a spinal tap for his chemotherapy. “So we have two masters that have gone above and beyond to keep him physically stay strong, which his team [at Hasbro] feels is a great thing.”
"Cal wants to open his own dojo,” said Duquette. “He told me, 'It’s just such an honor, you know, to train with Master and Mr. Rainville who love me so much'.”
“He’s going through a lot, so this means so much,” said Duquette. “I know there are people who work a lot, so we get lots of texts of encouragement. And we would not make it without the Hasbro staff -- they are angels.”
Master on Award
“[Cal’s] mom has been with me in martial arts a good twenty years. I got to watch all the kids grow up,” said Martin. “Everyone loves Cal, and he fell in love with it. One day he came to me and cried, and told me the news.”
“I told him the whole dojo is behind you -- people are praying for you,” said Martin. “One of my students said we need him to be student of the month. We want to let people know that even though you’re battling cancer, you can still stick with the martial arts."
