“You have cancer.”

They were three words that changed everything for Ted Wagstaff.

Nine awful months later, he heard three more: “In complete remission.”

Now, that’s more like it.

Wagstaff has spoken about his experience with a rare and aggressive subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in media interviews before. But Tuesday morning was different. For the first time, the Ottawa business leader told the story in person, standing before 500 people at the 25th annual President’s Breakfast in support of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation. More than $480,000 was raised.

For a solid 15 minutes, and without the use of notes, the president of advisory firm North45 took the room from diagnosis to remission, talking about his 487 hours of chemotherapy, 20 rounds of radiation and a treatment plan reshaped by advances in medical science.

Wagstaff’s personal story was one of two that showed the real-life impact of medical research. There were lots of hugs, standing ovations and enough tears for the table napkins to occasionally double as tissues.

With Doherty & Associates as title sponsor, the breakfast was co-chaired by hospital foundation board member Taryn Gunnlaugson, senior investment counsellor and portfolio manager at BMO Private Wealth, and Lisa Setlakwe, assistant deputy minister at Transport Canada.

A few dozen business leaders donned white lab coats to serve as table captains, inviting guests to show up and pledge money in support of medical research at The Ottawa Hospital. Jeff Hill (BMO Nesbitt Burns) and his wife Leigh Harris (KPMG) agreed to match contributions up to a maximum of $50,000.

Addressing the room were hospital president and CEO Cameron Love; Dr. Rebecca Auer, the hospital’s executive vice-president of research and innovation, as well as CEO and scientific director of its research institute; and Tim Kluke, president and CEO of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.

From left, Ottawa Hospital Foundation board member Taryn Gunnlaugson, senior investment counsellor and portfolio manager at BMO Private Wealth, and Lisa Setlakwe, assistant deputy minister at Transport Canada, were back as co-chairs of The President’s Breakfast at Rogers Centre Ottawa on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Business leaders looked the part in white lab coats while serving as table captains for The Ottawa Hospital Foundation’s President’s Breakfast, held at Rogers Centre Ottawa on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Ottawa Hospital board chair Michael Tremblay, president and CEO of CANARIE; Ottawa Hospital Foundation president and CEO Tim Kluke; the hospital’s president and CEO, Cameron Love; and Dr. Rebecca Auer, the hospital’s executive vice-president of research and innovation, at The President’s Breakfast, held at Rogers Centre Ottawa on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Wagstaff walked the room through his ordeal. It started with painful symptoms Wagstaff blamed on food poisoning. Bad shrimp, he figured. The tests revealed cancer. Next came the difficult conversation with his three children, all of whom were at the breakfast, along with his spouse, Jacqueline Belsito, president of the Senators Community Foundation.

“I can’t fully describe what happens when you hear the words, ‘You’ve got cancer,’” said Wagstaff. “It’s like the world stops. It isn’t just fear. It isn’t just shock. Suddenly, everything you thought was certain feels unknown. I remember my mind racing, thinking things like, ‘Should we be travelling and trying to pack a lifetime into what time I have left?’ It wasn’t a plan. It was panic. I was trying to control something that felt completely uncontrollable.

“I think, in many ways, the first few weeks were among the scariest. You don’t yet know what you’re  fighting.”

Then came the gruelling treatment. Wagstaff pulled out an eggplant to show the size of the large mass deep in his abdomen, wrapped around his vital organs. Surgery wasn’t an option. During part of his chemo, Wagstaff slept, showered and even went for walks wearing a special backpack equipped to pump chemotherapy drugs into his body around the clock.

“It was hard. It was painful at times. It was exhausting,” said Wagstaff, who also underwent lumbar punctures that saw chemotherapy injected directly into the cerebrospinal fluid surrounding his brain and spinal cord as a precaution against the cancer spreading to his central nervous system.

Wagstaff said he’s been thinking a lot lately about the medical breakthroughs that helped shape his treatment. “Not that many years ago, my rarest type diagnosis would have been missed,” he said. “I would have received a one-size-fits-all chemo, a different treatment plan. My outcome would have been unknown.”

“I’m literally living proof of the impact of research and innovation,” said Wagstaff, acknowledging that a mere thank you hardly felt enough to express his gratitude to hematologist and scientist Dr. Kevin Imrie, who was in attendance. “I’ll never, ever be able to find the words,” Wagstaff added, his eyes glistening.

Ted Wagstaff, president of North45, spoke at The President’s Breakfast in support of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation about how modern advances in medical science helped to save his life after he was diagnosed in April 2025 with a rare and aggressive subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Dr. Rebecca Auer (left), executive vice-president of research and innovation at The Ottawa Hospital, and a teary-eyed Jennifer Van Noort (centre), chief development officer for The Ottawa Hospital Foundation, are seen listening to Ted Wagstaff speak about his cancer journey as part of The President’s Breakfast, held at Rogers Centre Ottawa on Tuesday, September 15, 2026. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Cancer survivor Ted Wagstaff expressed his gratitude to his doctor, clinical hematologist and scientist Dr. Kevin Imrie, during The President’s Breakfast held in support of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. Photo by Caroline Phillips

OneLife president Chris Bockstael, left, and fellow Ottawa business leader Jeff York, both part of the Ottawa Senators’ local minority ownership group, were visibly moved as they listened to their friend Ted Wagstaff speak about his cancer experience as part of The President’s Breakfast in support of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Wagstaff also spoke about the extraordinary kindness that surrounded him throughout his cancer experience, something he came to see as one of its unexpected gifts. He found it in friends and in everyone he crossed paths with at The Ottawa Hospital, from the doctors and nurses to the lab specialists, blood technicians and administrative staff.

Just six weeks after finishing treatment, Wagstaff travelled to Nashville to take on the Tough Mudder obstacle course. “I did it not because I’m a great athlete,” he said. “I did it because I chose to see the obstacle of cancer as a challenge to overcome.”

Wagstaff compared medical researchers to startup entrepreneurs: they identify a problem, develop an idea, innovate and search for a solution. “And they’re like startup entrepreneurs in another way,” he added. “They need capital.”

That brought Wagstaff to the Campaign to Create Tomorrow, the $500-million fundraising campaign launched several years ago in support of the new Civic campus that’s being built near Dow’s Lake. With less than $100 million left to raise, the campaign is closing in on its goal. Medical research is one of the two major pillars of the fundraising campaign.

Wagstaff, who’s part of the Ottawa Senators’ local minority ownership group, spoke about teamwork during his appeal for campaign support.

“The truth is, not every story ends like mine,” he said, recognizing that later that same day, someone, somewhere in Ottawa would likely learn they have cancer. “They will hear the words I heard. Time will stop for them. That conversation with their kids awaits. What happens next matters. The treatment they have available to them matters. The care they receive matters. The hope they are given matters.

“They need us on their team. The Ottawa Hospital has made it possible for me to have a tomorrow. On the other side of gratitude is action. Our hospital needs help. My wife Jacqueline and I are joining the campaign and making a gift, and we invite you to join the team.”

From left, Ted Wagstaff and his spouse, Jacqueline Belsito, and Joanne York and Jeff York, who is a member of the campaign executive for the Campaign to Create Tomorrow, at The President’s Breakfast in support of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation. Photo by Caroline Phillips

The room also heard from Danika Fleury, who was 30 and newly married when she was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer and later severe endometriosis that had invaded her pelvic nerves. A specialized team at The Ottawa Hospital used advanced imaging, virtual-reality modelling and complex surgery to help address both her reproductive health and quality of life.

Fleury’s experience also put a spotlight on a broader issue raised by gynecologic surgeon and researcher Dr. Sony Singh: the long-standing lack of research and investment in women’s health. “Women’s health has historically been underfunded, under-researched and overlooked,” said Singh, whose clinical leadership roles include surgical director of The Ottawa Hospital’s Shirley E. Greenberg Women’s Health Centre.

Singh said he and his colleagues are determined to keep pushing for better research, better care and, above all, better answers for women. “When women are healthy, families are stronger, communities thrive and our entire city is healthier for it,” said Dr. Singh.

Among those rising to applaud was Maureen McTeer, a longtime advocate for women’s health and reproductive rights. She regularly attends the breakfast with her husband, former prime minister Joe Clark. Their daughter, communications expert Catherine Clark, serves on the board of The Ottawa Hospital.

Catherine Clark, president of Catherine Clark Communications and co-founder of The Honest Talk, with her parents, former prime minister Joe Clark and lawyer and rights advocate Maureen McTeer, and her husband, Chad Schella, associate vice president, government relations, at CIBC, at The President’s Breakfast in support of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Many of the speakers talked about how philanthropy helps drive research and how research gives patients hope. Dr. Rebecca Auer put it particularly well.

“When people think about philanthropy, they sometimes think about buildings, equipment and programs — and those things are important — but philanthropy is really about possibility,” she said.

“The possibility that the next breakthrough happens here, the possibility that a patient can receive one more option, one more chance, one more moment with the people they love. And that’s the impact of research.”

Auer, a surgical oncologist, went off script for a more personal moment, reminding everyone that her husband lives with a cancer diagnosis that has “profoundly” changed her life.

“Every morning I wake up thinking I have joy and gratitude for today, and I have hope and courage for tomorrow,” she said, pointing to the unprecedented pace of medical research and the possibility that future discoveries could benefit her husband.

“We aren’t just supporting research, we’re reshaping the future of healthcare and we’re giving patients one of the most extraordinary, powerful tools that they need to fight their disease, and that’s hope.”

Anabel Bane and Peter Nicholson, president of WEALTH (WCPD), at The President’s Breakfast in support of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Tim Kluke, president and CEO of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation, thanked the community for its support of the $500-million Campaign to Create Tomorrow, which is helping fund the new Civic campus and reshape the future of healthcare in Ottawa. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Peter Kilty, chair of the Canadian Energy Marketers Association (CEMA); Syntax Strategic senior director Mackenzie Houston; Syntax Strategic founder and CEO Jennifer Stewart, who’s also on the board of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation; and Bree Jamieson-Holloway, chair of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, at The President’s Breakfast held in support of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Ted Wagstaff, left, in conversation with Ian Sterling, president of  Doherty & Associates Investment Counsel, which was the title sponsor of The President’s Breakfast held in support of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation on Tuesday, September 15, 2026 at Rogers Centre Ottawa. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Jennifer Van Noort, chief development officer for The Ottawa Hospital Foundation; Marie-Eve Sylvestre, president and vice chancellor of the University of Ottawa; and Kathryn Tremblay, co-founder and owner of Altis Recruitment and Technology, at The President’s Breakfast in support of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Dr. Sony Singh spoke about improving women’s health through research and innovation at The President’s Breakfast held in support of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Ted Wagstaff, one of the speakers at The President’s Breakfast, and Cameron Love, president and CEO of The Ottawa Hospital, in the Trillium Ballroom of Rogers Centre Ottawa. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Danika Fleury shared her patient experience at The Ottawa Hospital at the President’s Breakfast held at Rogers Centre Ottawa on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Entrepreneur Ginger Bertrand and Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng, head of the department of critical care at The Ottawa Hospital, are two of the co-chairs of the Campaign to Create Tomorrow, a $500-million fundraising effort that has surpassed the $400-million mark. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Dr. Sony Singh, seated between speaker Danika Fleury and hospital CEO Cameron Love, smiled as the room recognized his long-standing advocacy for women’s health during The President’s Breakfast in support of medical research at The Ottawa Hospital. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Well-known Ottawa businesswoman Sheila Whyte, owner of Thyme & Again gourmet food shop and catering, at The President’s Breakfast with Ginny Sutcliffe and Mayor Mark Sutcliffe. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Ottawa philanthropists June Jones and retired Shopify CFO Russ Jones, the latter of whom is also on the board of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation, at the President’s Breakfast, held at the Rogers Centre Ottawa on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Inflector Environmental Services CEO and chairman Jeff Clarke, one of the co-chairs of the Campaign to Create Tomorrow; Joanne Read, executive vice president and chief planning and development officer for The Ottawa Hospital; and Tony Cook, project director at PCL Construction, at The President’s Breakfast held in support of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Ottawa restaurateur Stephen Beckta, who’s been working with The Ottawa Hospital to help it improve the general quality and nutritional value of its food, and Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng, head of the department of critical care at The Ottawa Hospital, at The President’s Breakfast in support of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Jenny Chen, CEO of Catalais Consulting, and her husband, BMO Nesbitt Burns wealth advisor Daniel MacMillan — who lives with a treatable but incurable cancer — hosted a table together at the President’s Breakfast, held at Rogers Centre Ottawa in support of medical research at The Ottawa Hospital. Photo by Caroline Phillips

The Ottawa Hospital Foundation’s past board chair, senior investment counsellor Janet McKeage (seen wearing her lab coat in her role as table captain), surrounded by her colleagues from RBC at the President’s Breakfast held at Rogers Centre Ottawa in support of medical research at The Ottawa Hospital. Photo by Caroline Phillips

This article is made possible through sponsorship from Star Motors, WEALTH (WCPD), Syntax Strategic, RBC, Marilyn Wilson Dream Properties, ExecHealth, Altis Recruitment, Bell Canada, First Avenue Investment Counsel, Welch LLP, Brazeau Seller Law, Westland Benefits and Ottawa Rapid FC.

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