9-year-old Stamps fan announces cancer in remission at school assembly with Grey Cup

A nine-year-old Calgary Stampeders fan announced Monday his cancer had gone into remission with a celebration befitting a football champion.

Hundreds of students at École Olds Elementary School cheered for Carter Thompson's good news at an assembly on Monday, where he shared the stage with the Grey Cup and current and former Stampeders Ryan Sceviour, Jay McNeil and Stu Laird.

"I asked Carter how he felt the other night about the Grey Cup coming, and he said, 'Mom, it reminds me of cancer. There's a lot of battles. It's like that game that you have to play so hard.' And he says, 'knowing I'm in remission is like winning the Grey Cup,'" said Tracy Thompson, Carter's mom.

"My heart feels the same. You're just overjoyed."

Carter was born with a hereditary heart condition — the same condition that ended his dad's life about a year ago — and had a heart transplant at just five months old. He recovered, but last year he was diagnosed with Stage 3 non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which can develop sometimes after a transplant.

He went through months of chemotherapy and isolation but is now on the mend.

The school, the team and Kids Cancer Care worked together to put on the surprise.

Signs in the school gym where the assembly was held read, "We are on Team Carter."

"There's been a lot of strikes against this poor little guy and his family and we've all been really rallying behind him as much as we can. We're just so thrilled he's got a clean bill of health right now," said gym teacher Randy Kish.

Carter was beaming with excitement as the cup was wheeled into the room, and he got a helmet signed by the players and even got to try on a championship ring from the Stamps' 2018 victory. 

But when asked what it felt like to touch the Grey Cup, he was pretty deadpan.

"Metal, I guess," he said.