Former BNB Player, Wife Face Incredible Life Hurdle

Source: NBUNI-PRO

We fight every day to keep moving, keep churning and grinding.

 It’s what we do when we want to live life to the fullest.

 You’ve heard the phrase ‘life’s not fair,’ when sometimes referencing inconsequential situations.

 For a New Brunswicker and the love of his life, life’s not fair.

 Former Basketball New Brunswick player Luke Belding of Sussex and his wife Lindsey are going through something no person – let alone a young couple just starting life’s journey together – should have to experience.

 The Belding’s are battling the same, extremely rare type of Leukemia, so rare it’s deemed to be one in 10-billion for a married couple in their 20s to be diagnosed.

 Both were diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

 The rare type of blood cancer, known as ALL, makes it even more unimaginable that two people in the same household would be diagnosed.

 Luke Belding, now 29, played for BNB’s under-15 team under head coach Serge Langis, representing his province at the Canada Basketball nationals in Vancouver.

 His sister, Madeline, is a former BNB player and coach. She is now an assistant coach with the University of Windsor Lancers of the Ontario University Athletics conference.

 The news rocked the families of both Luke and Lindsey - now living in Manitoba - and has received national attention for its rarity.

 With the world facing the COVID-19 pandemic, life has been turned upside down.

 ‘Our families are really going through a difficult time now,’ said Madeline. ‘Because of their diagnoses and the pandemic, they’re unable to be together and they can’t work.’

 Luke was diagnosed in 2018 and received a stem cell transplant.

 Their love trumped that hurdle and they were married in recovery. He would relapse in 2019 and another stem cell search was delayed by COVID-19.

 A match was found in April, but they were forced to be apart.

 During her time alone, Lindsey fell ill. She was tested for the Coronavirus, but her white blood cell count was low. She was diagnosed with the same illness as her husband in mid-May.

 Luke went home, Lindsey was admitted and is still receiving chemotherapy.

 They have had 24 hours together during this strike of fate.

 Luke is on medical leave from his PhD work at the University of Manitoba. He does not qualify for Employment Insurance and neither of them qualifies for Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) because their unemployment is unrelated to COVID-19.

 Madeline and brother Ben have created a GoFundMe account to help support Luke and Lindsey through this incredible challenge.

 A private person, Madeline said Luke was her inspiration growing up which sparked her interest to make basketball her career.

 ‘Luke was so proud to play for New Brunswick,’ she said. ‘It was the moment I realized I wanted to follow in his footsteps. Now we want to help him and Lindsey anyway we can.’

 You can connect to the GoFundMe page HERE to help the Belding’s receive some financial relief.

 The basketball world in New Brunswick and beyond is a tight-knit community.

 One of its own and his wife needs some help.