On Roughriders: Regina woman gifted trip to Halifax for Touchdown Atlantic

Battling a rare form of cancer couldn’t stop Sue Linnen from the trip of a lifetime.

Linnen and her husband Ken travelled across the country to watch the Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the Toronto Argonauts in the Touchdown Atlantic CFL game in Halifax on Saturday.

Sue and Ken Linnen at the Touchdown Atlantic game in Halifax. (File photo courtesy of Jonathan Huntington/Cameco)

She’s the most-recent recipient of a gift through Cameco Riders Touchdown for Dreams – a program that started in 2011 by the Roughriders and the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency to help women who are battling life-threatening cancer. The Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan became a partner in 2019.

“I was just overjoyed. I felt very humbled by the fact that I was one of the ones selected,” said Linnen. “I received a call from (Riders general manager) Jeremy O’Day and some of the other Rider managers telling me that I had been selected.

“I felt very honoured to represent the team and go to that game.”

Each spring, women who are facing a life-threatening cancer diagnosis can apply to have a dream fulfilled. On average, seven to eight wishes are granted every year.

“My daughter Barbara sent (the application) in to the Riders, I guess, and that’s all there was to it,” Linnen said with a laugh.

Not only did she get tickets to the game, she also got to watch the team practise and meet the players and coaches afterwards.

“It was awesome. We’ve been season-ticket holders for 49 of the 50 years of our married life. We’re avid supporters. We’ve gone to games outside of Saskatchewan (and) been to a few of the Grey Cups they were in. (We) wish there were more Grey Cups that they had been in but nonetheless we’ve been to a few of them,” she said.

Quarterback Mason Fine told Linnen meeting fans like her reminds the players they aren’t just playing for themselves and the coaches, but for people like Linnen. She said she was very humbled by Fine’s comment.

“I told the boys that they were fighting on the field and I was fighting this disease off the field,” she said.

Although the Riders didn’t come out victorious, Linnen and her husband still had a blast.

“It was electrifying,” she said. “We had very good seats behind the Rider bench so we could see not only the action on the field but the support that the Riders were giving to each other on the sidelines.”

Back in Regina, Sue and Ken never miss a home game. They have two extra tickets that get rotated between friends and family.

They want to pass on their Rider pride to their children and grandchildren.

Linnen said she’s doing well health-wise, but it hasn’t always been an easy journey. She has been fighting a rare form of lymphoma for 12 years. It attacks the cells in her body that attack infections.

“If I do get an infection, it’s kind of bad news,” she said.

Ken and Sue Linnen with Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Craig Dickenson (File photo courtesy of Jonathan Huntington/Cameco)

The first eight years of her battle had little to no complications. It started with skin cancer on her leg that she thought was a mosquito bite; she had that removed.

Her doctors wanted to do more investigating after some strange results came back from a blood test, and that’s when they found the lymphoma.

“It has affected several of my organs. I was on chemo and radiation for about eight years no problem. But the last four years have been difficult ones,” she said.

On a trip to the symphony in 2019, she was feeling a little shaky. A few days later, she lost all use of her legs and had to use a wheelchair for about eight months.

That’s when the doctors discovered a spinal tumour, which was treated with chemo and radiation. Since then, her mobility hasn’t been perfect but she has seen major improvements.

“I’m able to walk now through a lot of help from physiotherapists and doctors. I can walk independently but if I’m going long distances I will either take my walker or my cane,” she said.

Overall, things are going pretty well for Linnen.

“Some days I have more energy than others. If I exert too much, I get short of breath but for the most part I’m able to do all the things I want to do and live a fairly decent life,” she said.

She said she wouldn’t have been able to face this battle on her own. She is grateful for her husband.

“I would just like to say what a tremendous support my husband Ken has been over the last 50 years, but particularity over the last 12. It’s been really hard on him as well. He’s just been helping me with the things I can’t do and encouraging me to do the things that I can,” said Linnen.

She also thanked Cameco and the Riders for the unforgettable trip.

“It’s one that will last me for the rest of my life,” she said.