Dear Visitor's

We wanted to share with you the tragic loss of a young member of our Patient Advisory Board Committee.  

Cam Williams was a 35 year old father of three children and the husband to Coralee.  He was diagnosed in June 2006 with CML.  However, Cam's struggle with this disease mostly defied all the treatments currently available.

Together with his wife they diligently sought out expert opinion and information and closely monitored his progress.  When it was apparent that Cam's only hope of success in treating this disease was a bone marrow transplant, he was lucky to have a perfect match with a sibling, his older brother Don.  However, within a week of deciding to go for the transplant, Cam developed spontaneous transformation to blast crisis, which drastically altered the prognosis for the transplant procedure.  

In spite of this last cruel hurdle, Cam persisted and bravely underwent not one, but two transplants within 6 months. Unfortunately, in both cases the blast crisis returned.  

In honor of Cam's memory, we have set up the Cameron Wade Williams Scholarship Fund.  The Fund will be established in Cardston, Alberta so that his children will grow up being part of something that honors their father and in some way, provides a mindful remembrance of the things Cam would have surely continued to teach them about, such as being hardworking, honest, athletic, showing a dedication to community service, resilient and compassionate (just a few of the attributes, we have to stop here as it may be difficult for anyone else to measure up ).

Since he taught 6th graders, the award will be given to a sixth grader in Cardston who exemplifies these qualities and who will most likely go on to pursue higher education.  His wife, Coralee will preside over the panel and make the final decision as to the award on an annual basis.

Cam's untimely passing was a tragic reminder to all of us that CML, in spite of all the recent additions to treatment, is still a serious disease.  Cam was a dedicated member to our Patient Advisory Board and he and Coralee worked diligently for the benefit of fellow CML patients.  He will be greatly missed by all of us.

We are all very grateful to all the healthcare professionals who helped Cam, the numerous innovative treatments that were made available to him and for the caring and devotion from his community in Cardston, Alberta.

We continue to thank the researchers who continue to find new drugs and therapies for CML, and we are ever mindful of the absolute need for a cure.


To contribute to the fund please make a cheque to " The Cameron Wade Williams Scholarship Fund" and contact us for the mailing address at info@cmlsociety.org