ETOBICOKE, Ontario, CMC – Successful Barbadian reinsman Rico Walcott was looking forward to this racing season after moving his tack east from the Canadian west coast to Woodbine.
But the 35-year-old is in a battle for his life after he suffered a seizure, and a subsequent imaging scan discovered a brain tumor had returned in the same place – the left frontal lobe – where an initial malignant growth the size of a golf ball was found and removed five years ago.
“A biopsy showed that the latest tumor was Grade 4 IDH mutant astrocytoma, which is now a high-grade glioma,” trainer Twylla Bensmiller, who has started a GoFundMe site for Walcott, said in an article appearing on the Canadian Thoroughbred website.
Glioma is a type of brain or spinal cord tumor that begins in glial cells, supportive cells surrounding the neurons in your brain, nourishing and insulating them.
“Everybody is in shock,” Bensmiller said. “He didn’t want anybody to know. It’s terrible.
“The doctors said that [chemotherapy and radiation treatment] could buy him some time, but it wasn’t guaranteed, so Rico has chosen to go the natural way and not do the chemo and radiation.”
“Instead, Rico has chosen private, holistic treatment in Honduras. Everybody has the right to choose what they want to do, and Rico has decided on the latter – but it’s expensive.”
Bensmiller said the goal was to raise CAN $ 30,000 to help Walcott, who has two daughters, Sunday and Wisdom, and a wife, Shakira.
Walcott, who has been the leading jockey in the Canadian province of Alberta 11 times since leaving Barbados 17 years ago to join Rickey, his older brother, was looking forward to this racing season after moving to Woodbine, the country’s main racing facility.
“Without any treatment, the doctors told him that he only had 12 to 16 months left,” Walcott’s agent, Bob Fowlis, added. “It’s terrible news. He needs a miracle. He doesn’t like the word cancer; he’s trying to be positive.”
Fowlis said Walcott had regular imaging scans that were all clean, but the latest scan revealed that the tumor had grown back 1.7 centimeters.
“If you can help in any way, it would be greatly appreciated,” Bensmiller said about donations to the GoFundMe site. “Every little bit helps.
“Please say a prayer for Rico. He needs all the prayers he can get right now.” ac
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