Doug LaPorte shocked at outpouring of support from community
Doug LaPorte sits in a chair in Princess Margaret Hospital hooked up to an IV giving him platlets, a blood component that helps clotting. He is wearing a green-checkered shirt and is remarkably upbeat, cracking a joke about being the “bald guy” after undergoing chemotherapy.
LaPorte taught at George Brown College (GBC) for 28 years in the construction trades programs. He was set to retire this fall when he got the news in late August that he had cancer.
“I was pretty devastated,” said LaPorte. “My students had set up a retirement party for me on Sept. 11 and my wife and I had major travel plans, I was doing renovations with my wife and daughter, they wanted me to come back and teach part-time. All of that went ‘boom, done.’—the bubble had burst.”
After two rounds of chemotherapy, his bone marrow is now “next to nothing” and he needs a transplant. Every day he waits increases the chance that the cancer will come back.
Often people struggle to find a compatible donor for the transplant. While LaPorte’s brother and sisters are donor matches, the earliest he would be able to get an appointment in Toronto would be late January, so he’s going to a hospital in Buffalo for the transplant.
The Ontario government covers most of the medical expenses, but not for his brother who plans to be the donor. LaPorte’s wife Cathi will also be going as a caregiver, and they will have to pay for three months of living expenses while he is an outpatient.
That’s why his sister Jeannette Lilley set up a page on the crowdfunding website GoFundMe.com. The response was overwhelming: in a day they got over $15,000 in donations and have raised over $28,000 so far.
“We were shocked, totally shocked,” said LaPorte as the donations started pouring in.
Joseph Lacarcia, one of his former students, posted on the crowdfunding website writing: “Doug was absolutely the best professor I have ever had the privilege of being taught by! Not only did you have the technical skills but he mastered the art of teaching…and multiple-choice-guesses.”
“A lot of the tests were multiple choice and the favorite line then was when in doubt, choose C,” chuckled LaPorte as he recalled the story. “I used to tell them ‘no, it doesn’t always work that way.’ And I created a test where all of the answers were C—just to see who was studying and reading. That ended up being a real nerve-racker, because a lot of the guys went through and answered C then they saw it was nothing but Cs and were like, ‘there’s got to be something wrong here.’ ”
Ashely Ault grew up with the LaPorte family swimming with their daughter Jen and even going on family vacations with them.
“He was like a second dad, the dad I didn’t have,” said Ault whose father died in 2011. “He taught architecture and he used to bring home the big blue prints, he was a teacher and I always wanted to be a teacher so I used to fake mark them with him.”
“It was a shock because he’s such a big, strong, jovial person,” she said about learning LaPorte had cancer. “I never thought Doug could ever get sick, he’s just always there.”
GBC president Anne Sado said via email that, “Doug’s positive attitude has always been an inspiration to me, and will serve him well as he continues his health journey. The entire George Brown College community is rooting for Doug during his treatment and we wish him the very best care and support.”
“It’s nice to know I left an impact somewhere,” said LaPorte as the blood transfusion ended, his eyes brimming with tears.
