Hugo J.

Profile and story

Meet 9-year-old Hugo, Hero of the Coupe Charles-Bruneau in Quebec City presented by IGA.

Originally from Baie-Comeau, Hugo was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in March 2023, and has now been in remission for 2 years with follow-ups at the Charles-Bruneau Unit of the CHU de Québec-Université Laval. The discovery of his diagnosis came after a hospital appointment for hand-foot-and-mouth surgery. Hugo recalls: “I was super tired. I'd fall asleep on the way home from school, even on the kitchen floor, and the sores in my mouth started bleeding. We went to the hospital for a blood test while Dad was the ER doctor on duty. They put me in an office with a nurse, then Mom and Dad came to tell me that I had a big disease, that we'd have to have big treatments very soon, that we'd have to stay in the hospital. Later, we found out that we were leaving by air ambulance for the CHUL (now that was cool!). When my parents told me it was some kind of cancer, I was afraid it would be fatal, I was afraid of the injections I'd get at the hospital; I was sad. Now, I'm proud to have made it through leukemia.

During his treatments, one of the hardest things for him to do was to take medicine by mouth. To remedy the situation, he practiced hard with his parents to learn how to swallow pills. He even started practicing with nerdy candy! Now he's a real pro, swallowing 12 pills in 32 seconds.

Hugo is a youngster with many passions: making LEGOs, reading (especially Super Dog books), playing video games, Star Wars-style lightsaber battles, playing Monopoly and many other activities! He's also a great sportsman, whether it's soccer, downhill skiing, cycling or Taekwondo, Hugo always has a contagious smile on his face.

At 9 years of age, Hugo is a philanthropist at heart. During a day of volunteer work, he came up with the idea of creating a snake out of painted rocks: a project that rallies his community. His goal is to break the Guinness record for the world's longest painted rock snake. He's now at just over 30,000 rocks, with a goal of 32,500. A fine example of the next generation of philanthropists!