The Marcy Lynn McCaw (Heschuk) Memorial Graduate Award in Physical Therapy commemorates this Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine alumna. (Photo supplied.)
From an early age, Marcy McCaw (nee Heschuk) was passionate about sports: skating, soccer, volleyball, skiing, gymnastics and track and field. This passion for athletics led her to compete at national and international levels in soccer, volleyball, track and field (heptathlon) and precision skating during her high school and university years, and influenced her future career path.
Marcy was an alumna of the University of Alberta's Faculties of Rehabilitation Medicine (BScPT '95) and Physical Education and Recreation (BPE '96), and a Panda's athlete in volleyball, track and field, and rowing. She passed away on July 7, 2017 at the age of 46 after a courageous battle with cancer.
In her early professional life, Marcy had the opportunity to travel the world as a physical therapist for the Cayman Island's soccer, swim and rugby teams and US soccer teams, attending the 1998 and 2002 Commonwealth games in Kuala Lumpur and Manchester and the 2004 Summer Olympic games in Athens, as well as international competitions in Mexico City, Argentina, Chile and the Caribbean.
Marcy obtained her license in Chinese Acupuncture, certification in Lymphatic Therapy and became a Reiki Master. She took an integrative approach to incorporating these techniques into treating her patients wherever she worked including Edmonton, Cayman Islands and Pennsylvania. She also travelled and taught courses in Lymphatic Enhancement Technology.
She positively impacted many lives, especially in providing lymphedema therapy at the Integrative Breast Cancer Center in Pennsylvania, where she worked for over eight years. She was an advocate and supporter to her patients battling breast cancer.
Outside of her career, Marcy was married to Brennan McCaw for more than 20 years and was a proud mother to three children, whom she actively supported in their own athletic pursuits in soccer and hockey.
Marcy battled cancer for eleven years while continuing to help other cancer survivors through her involvement in the book Surviving Cancer: Our Voices & Choices (Behr, 2014) and was featured in Stories of the Red-Tailed Hawk (Tawadi, 2017).
In Marcy's honour, her mother, Shirley Heschuk, and Marcy's husband, Brennan McCaw, and their family have made a gift to the University of Alberta's Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine to establish The Marcy Lynn McCaw (Heschuk) Memorial Graduate Award in Physical Therapy.
This endowment will support a student annually in the UAlberta Department of Physical Therapy, who has demonstrated involvement in University of Alberta student athletics as well as involvement in breast cancer rehabilitation activities and/or fitness related activities, in perpetuity.
It is through this lasting alumni legacy that Marcy's impact in physical therapy, athletics and breast cancer rehabilitation will continue to live on in future generations of rehabilitation professionals.
To support The Marcy Lynn McCaw (Heschuk) Memorial Graduate Award in Physical Therapy, donations can be made online at bit.ly/MarcyMemorial by following these steps:
1) Enter and confirm your email.
2) In the 'Direct my donation to' area enter the amount of your donation in the 'An area not listed' box.
3) Then click on the green '+' next to 'Would you like to direct your gift to an area not listed' and enter the Marcy Lynn McCaw (Heschuk) Memorial Graduate Award in Physical Therapy.
4) Click on the remaining green '+' next to 'Is your gift in honour of someone special?' to fill in information related to your gift if you would like the Heschuk/McCaw family to be notified of your gift.