Gerry McAdam realized his dream. The 16-year-old from Hemmingford, QC had been fundraising to build a firefighter training centre in the village of just over 800 residents.
With over $125,000 towards his cause construction will start in the Spring, but McAdam won’t be there to see it.
Three years ago, McAdam was diagnosed with sarcoma, a form of tissue cancer.
He dreamed of being a firefighter since he was young, even putting out imaginary fires in his backyard treehouse and accompanying his father on calls with the Hemmingford Volunteer Fire Department.
At the beginning of 2025, McAdam was getting regular chemotherapy treatment at the Montreal Children’s Hospital.
“At the end of January, almost three years to the day we found out his diagnosis, we found out his right lung was already filled with fluid,” his mother Jessica Schmid told CTV News. “They told us, ‘Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do anymore.’”
During this treatment, he was offered a wish from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He decided not to use it on himself, but to pay it forward by contributing it towards the centre.
It would offer search and rescue training to volunteer firefighters as well as simulations on how to handle certain emergency situations.
When McAdam spoke to CTV News in December 2024, he explained the nearest centre like it was over an hour away making it difficult for volunteers who have to train in their free time.
Donations poured in from across Canada and from the local community who supported McAdam’s fundraising push, while he battled the disease.
On Feb. 19, McAdam died at home surrounded by his family. His 14-year-old sister held his hand through the night. “He had all his family around him,” his mother said.
“We cheered him on like, ‘you can do it, Gerry!’ We love you. You can let go,‘”
His father Christopher McAdam said his siblings, 14, 12 and 9, were by his side.
“It was almost like they became the older siblings. They were going to take care of him,” he said.
His parents said the soft-spoken McAdam was determined until the end. Ten days before his passing, he insisted on being taken on one last fire call with his father.
The day before he died, he was talking about new plans for his high school firefighting club.
“Gerry taught me to live in the moment, he taught me to appreciate what I do have” Schmid said. “And what I did have was 16 beautiful years with Gerry.”
