Art Janzen leaves cancer behind him to become a Champion for Charity
By Jeff Hicks
WATERLOO —
Art Janzen inhaled deeply. One of his 57-year-old ribs ached.
A punch he took during boxing training as one of Mandy Bujold’s 20 Champions for Charity left the partner and project manager at Menno S. Martin Contractor gasping for breath.
Much like 30 years ago, when the Kitchener-raised Janzen was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
It was a gut punch that nearly knocked him to life’s canvas.
His wife Barb was pregnant with their daughter Maddie. Janzen faced two looming neck surgeries that would make him look like a human PEZ dispenser to sweet-humoured friends.
A future in additions and renovations was furthest from his racing mind.
“Am I going to be around to see this kid?,” thought Janzen, who will make his boxing ring debut on April 24 at sold-out Tapestry Hall in Cambridge to benefit MacKids.
“I was told that it was treatable. But it’s still cancer. I lived 8 years wondering about every ache and pain — Is that something I should be worried about?”
Eight years passed. The wondering subsided. He was declared clear of his cancer.
A little thump to the side of the thorax from a hefty hook is welcome agony. His 35th anniversary with Barb approaches in the fall. His daughter Maddie, her Bohemian heart locked in a passionate love affair with Lake Superior, is smitten with adult life in Wawa.
“She tells me all the time how proud she is of me,” Janzen says of Maddie’s reaction to his first venture into the ring. “I do a lot of things that, I think, make her proud that way.”
Like riding his favourite motorcycle for 15 days across Canada and back with Uncle John. Like running marathons and cycling and playing volleyball.
Once, Janzen felt branded with that cancerous C.
He responded by branding himself with a tattoo on his wrist.
Why not? is Art’s inspiring body art.
Why not box and fundraise for all the kids and families facing the Big C and worse? Why not help Waterloo Regional Health Network purchase an additional echocardiogram machine for its paediatric clinic through a 50/50 draw and silent auction.
Why not fight for that 10-year-old kid he once shared a waiting room at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto 30 years ago? The kid with a tumour the size of a softball.
“I just go into things full throttle,” Janzen said of his post-cancer philosophy.
Barb is the one left wondering these days. Her husband knocking out ruthless cancer? Sure. That’s him. But boxing ruthlessly against another person? That doesn’t seem like him.
“I don’t know if I can handle watching my husband hit someone,” Barb said.
“That’s not the Art I know.”
In the end, the common goal for all the champs is to raise $750,000 for a great cause.
That’s why they’re enduring sore ribs. Camaraderie is a soothing salve.
“I didn’t know these people yesterday,” he said. “Now, we’re all like best friends.”
To support Art, click here.
Our Champion Spotlight is brought to you by Lee Kieswetter Heavy Civil.
