Finding Purpose Through Adversity: The Healing Journey of Joey Kenward

Intro Announcer: 00:00:00

Your voice is your superpower. Use it. Welcome to Ignite My Voice Becoming unstoppable. Powered by Ignite Voice, Inc. The podcast where voice meets purpose and stories ignite change.

Deep conversations with amazing guests, storytellers, speakers and change makers.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:00:25

Sometimes the most powerful voices are born out of silence, the kind that comes when your life stops you in your track.

Co-Host Kat Stewart: 00:00:32

Joey Kenward has spent his life behind the mic, calling plays, sharing stories, and connecting fans through his voice.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:00:39

But when illness struck, he found himself in a very different arena, fighting for his life.

Co-Host Kat Stewart: 00:00:44

Today we dive into Joey's extraordinary journey from the broadcast booth with the Vancouver Canucks to the bone marrow transplant ward.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:00:52

And how using his voice became part of his healing. He reminds us that when fear shows.

Co-Host Kat Stewart: 00:00:57

Up, whether it's facing death or public speaking, our words can ground us, heal us, and connect us.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:01:04

This is a story about these gratitude.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:01:07

And rediscovering the power of your voice.

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:01:10

My life, almost in an instant, seemed to get turned upside down with very little warning. Some symptoms.

Literally, a few days before having to say to myself, okay, I probably should get seen by some medical professionals as to why I've got some blood issues in my mouth and in my nose and in my eyes.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:01:34

Oh, it must have been scary, huh?

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:01:35

It was very scary. I wasn't in any pain. I was not in a ton of discomfort.

But obviously when I had these issues crop up in a really short window just a couple of days apart, that I figured I'd better, at the very least, get checked out. And I did.

I went into the emergency room at my local hospital in Delta, and even the ER doctor at the time, she said, okay, we're gonna get you checked out. We'll run some blood tests and do a chest X ray and see what happens.

And she said after the fact that she thought I was gonna be, you know, having to be administered a prescription for some oral or nasal medication.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:02:18

Oh, you'll be fine.

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:02:19

Yeah, not that. Not that.

Co-Host Kat Stewart: 00:02:21

Don't worry about it.

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:02:21

But it was, you know, it didn't take long for her as an ER doctor.

When the blood tests came back, she knew it was pretty dire, and she was the one that actually delivered the news to me that, you know, in so many words, I'm really sorry to tell you this, but, you know, these results show that you've got an acute form of leukemia.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:02:45

Now, I remember when you were here.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:02:47

A few years ago, you were a.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:02:49

Young, fit kind of guy.

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:02:51

I was.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:02:52

You probably hadn't had much happen in your life before that, right?

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:02:55

ct, I got sick in November of: 2023

I got my blood checked every year prior to that, which I encourage everybody to do just to make sure everything's looking good. And I had it checked that summer at the end of July, beginning of August, and I can go back and look at it right now.

My blood results back then had green check mark all across the board. My hemoglobin, my white blood cells, red blood cells, everything was looking good.

Somewhere between that time, let's call it the beginning of August and late November, my blood cells, internally, some of them, just went haywire. And when that happens, then the bad cells start to overtake the good ones and it just multiplies and multiplies and they don't know what causes it.

There is no determining factor as to why I got sick.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:04:00

Now take us back to that moment because we're curious, because we teach a lot about personal narrative and the way you think shapes your world and stuff. And it sounds like in your personal narrative, man, this was just outside of your world, right?

How do you process that in that moment, what happened in your head?

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:04:19

I can't lie, it was stunning when you get that news that somebody and I kept in touch actually with that ER doctor after the fact, when things started to take a turn for the better. And I called her and I just said, hey, I want to let you know that you might remember me. And you gave me that awful news.

But I really appreciated it at the time because somebody who's in that position doesn't want to deliver that type of news, but they know they have to. You can't skirt around it. And I just, at the time, as much as a panic as it was not only for myself, but for my partner, Amanda.

And at that time, I had a son who had just turned 2, that I'm like, wow, what has happened here?

But I quickly realized that in a very difficult situation, I found myself in, I was in the best care and putting my hands into the hands of the best people available. Like, they rushed me right to vgh.

And I wound up being at the bone marrow transplant leukemia ward for almost a full month to get chemotherapy treatments and to get prepared for a stem cell transplant, which eventually I wound up getting a few months later. But it didn't take me long to realize that in a place you don't want to be, I was in the best place possible.

The care that they are I didn't realize it, Kevin, until you said, because I'd never been hospitalized, I didn't grow up being at all in that environment. And all of a sudden I wound up, here I am. And I knew it didn't take me long to realize that these are the best people at what they do.

They do this every day. And I was in an uncomfortable position anybody would find themselves in.

I felt actually comfortable knowing that I was, regardless of where things were going, I was very comfortable being there under their care and supervision.

Co-Host Kat Stewart: 00:06:37

So you've had to face your death and we all have to. I've had to do it too. I've had melanoma. And that's a really scary diagnosis.

And so we talk about that fear of death in relationship to public speaking, because public speaking and the fear of death are almost the two of the flip side of the same coin. And when you can release that fear of death, it opens you up to step into your life. Did you find that that changed for you?

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:07:09

I don't know if it necessarily changed, if any. I look back at that part of my journey, which is still continuing as I talk to you today, and that journey's going to be continuing on for me.

Moving forward at that stage of my journey, being able to draw off of my experience as a public speaker and being able to be front facing to an audience, no matter how big or small it might be, I look back on it. That really, really helped my mindset, starting that journey of recovery.

I've been very open and public about my diagnosis, primarily because of the massive need that we have to have in this country for blood donors or stem cell donors. And I'll hold my hand up, I didn't know how big a need it was required until I found myself in it.

So, you know, after a couple of weeks of, you know, telling loved ones, family, work colleagues of what was happening, and that was really tough because I'm delivering, calling somebody up and I'm delivering them the bad news, right? And I kept doing that and doing that and I thought, I can't keep doing this.

But what I can do is I got to a point where, okay, anybody that I would want them to hear from me directly over the phone on a virtual call. I tried to get that as best I could and then I went public with it.

So, you know, a few weeks after I was hospitalized, I put a post out on my social media feeds and like, literally within hours, that kind of just went viral. It was the night of a Vancouver Canucks game at home. It was A Saturday night. And all of a sudden I'm sitting in my hospital room watching the game.

And in the second period, just before commercial break on Hockey Night in Canada, there's my photo up on the screen. And the producers who had seen my post earlier that day had put a collage of photos of me.

And they saying, we want to, you know, Scott Oak, the host, saying we want to pass along our well wishes and support to our friend and colleague Joey Kenward. Well, when that happened, and I wasn't expecting that to happen, well, you can imagine what happened to my cell phone at that time.

There was a lot of people that reached out immediately after they saw my post.

But then all of a sudden, when this is getting mentioned coast to coast on television, then I was starting to hear from people that I hadn't heard from in a long, long time, from all parts of the country and the continent.

So that helped being able to get that message out and talking, eventually talking to people and because I think what would not have helped in my recovery is if I was alone and if I didn't communicate and if I didn't have a chance to speak with people, whether it was, you know, healthcare professionals, doctors, nurses or family members or friends or like, I was very, very fortunate to be able to, as you say, use my voice in the healing process. And that really helped my mindset when going into the next few phases of my recovery. It's hard to put into words.

It really is because I like to think that what I've been able to accomplish in my life prior to sickness was by having a good attitude and being somewhat of a self starter and energetic and and you know, driven. Driven to be able to do what I want to do for a living. And I've been very, very fortunate to in many ways live out my dream as, you know, amazing.

Coming back here decades when you guys were my instructors, like that was the starting point for me. And I look back on the path that I was on and I've got no complaints about that.

And I think a lot of it is because of, you know, opportunities, but also just the drive to be able to do what I want to do. And I think having that vibe, I guess for lack of a better phrase, that definitely helped.

I know a lot of people will say it when you go into a tough circumstance, the physical battle is what it is. Well, it's a mind, body, but it's a mental.

And if you've got the mental makeup and the strength internally to be able to take on whatever's Coming your way, it's only going to help your cause. The medicine can only do so much, and if it does its job, great.

Co-Host Kat Stewart: 00:12:21

There's such a connection between the mind and the body.

And the mind really does have, and they've shown it in science that it has the ability to impact the body in terms of healing, in terms of positivity, and how that affects your overall recovery. And what you're talking about is really an ability for people to access their breath.

I've been in the same position, different than yours, but I found that I had to go internally, and so I had to really look within myself and access my breath and my calmness, because you can really spiral out of control really quickly. Did you find yourself breathing deeper?

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:13:11

Yeah.

I mean, I found that, you know, when you're sequestered to your own room for such a long period of time, you kind of get used to yourself and your body a little bit more than maybe you're used to when you're out walking or running or running errands or driving. You're more conscious, right? Yeah.

The other thing, too, is at the time, I had just turned 46, and when getting this bad news and finding yourself in a hospital bed and knowing that I do. Look, if there was one blessing in this really tough time that I was going through is that my son was just two years old.

He didn't have a clue what was going on with his dad. Nothing. He knew that I wasn't home and wondering why, you know, I'm only seeing him on a phone or a computer. Where's dad?

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:14:17

But.

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:14:19

I sat there thinking, like, I've got so much more to do.

I got so much more in my life that, you know, I started a little bit late in the parent game, but maybe looking back on it, in the situation I found myself in, that that was a push that I needed to just keep forward thinking rather than worrying about this tough news. That's been, you know, a tough hand that's been dealt my way. Like, hey, we had a lot of cards on the table at once. Right.

It's how you can play them as best you can. And I do feel that looking back on it.

Yeah, just getting more, you know, figuring out your body more, what's going on there, and just not realizing that I'm in a. Yes, I'm in a tough spot. I don't want to be here.

But the people that are looking after me, there's no better place I can be right now in the situation I'm in. And knowing that there's lots still to look forward to when I get out of here. That, that is what really drove me and continues to drive me.

You know, it's funny, we spent 20 plus minutes talking about this. And when I leave you here and I go home or when I go to do whatever I do after this, like, I don't think about this. I don't. It's not on my mind.

And boy am I thankful to say that. I really. Some people have asked me like, is there anything that keeps you up at night? Is there anything that scares you?

And with what I've gone through, I'm so happy to say that I'm feeling fine. I'm not legitimately worried about what may happen to me moving forward. If something happens, it happens. It won't be my doing.

It would be something, you know, inside me that doesn't want to play ball. But what does sometimes worry me.

And I think a lot of people would say this is like, what's life going to be like for my kid in the next 10, 15, 20 years based on the way the world is now. And you know, boy, things seem to have, not overnight, but really in the last couple years, things have just everything around us. It's hard.

Not like it's totally, totally different than when I was in your classroom. Just like I'm sure things were totally different when you guys were in classrooms way back when.

And I look at it now and I try not to think like I am doing my level headed best just to try to take things day by day because I don't think he can afford to do anything but that, oh, we have. It's all we have.

Co-Host Kat Stewart: 00:17:26

It's only the now.

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:17:28

It truly is all we have. Are there a lot of things that spook me with where things seem to be heading? Yeah, absolutely.

But if I was to talk to my dad who when he was in high school he thought the world was going to come to an end during the Cuban missile cris. Okay, now that's a long time ago. We're living in a world right now that things are going on not too far away from our own back door that are scary.

But things have been scary in the past and let's hope not. But chances are things are going to be scary in the future. I just try my best and this is what I would encourage anybody.

And I know it kind of sounds cliche, but just taking things day by day and yeah, there's going to be things that stress you out.

Yeah, there's going to be things that crop up that you might not have control over, but you've got, as best you can, control over your family, and you've got control over, hopefully, your health. There's a lot of outside noise, Kevin, it seems.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:18:36

Oh, yeah, well, we talk to younger people naturally, because we're still teaching some of the time.

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:18:41

Yeah.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:18:42

And it's pretty scary. I mean. I mean, some of them will say to us, there's no way I'm having kids.

I'm not bringing kids into this world, given, you know, the situation we're talking about right now. So you're talking to your son. So a few years from now, what advice would you have for your son?

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:19:00

I can't lie. That's something I haven't really thought a ton about. My. At first blush thinking is, you know, be a good person.

First and foremost, do your best to, like, that's as a parent. And I'm sure you guys can say the same, like, yeah, we have no idea what's ahead in the world and we have no idea where our kids are going to go.

But if we can be, as best of parents, lead by example, like, that's all I can do for my son right now is to try to lead by example.

And eventually in the future, you know, your decisions and what you say, that can have an impact on not only yourself, but on others, Whether it's your immediate family, whether it's people you are friends with, whether it's people that you report to in a job or in a classroom. Like, just being. My overall message would be, be respectful. Be respectful to whoever it might be. And in that, hopefully being respectful to yourself.

Right. I think that's really, really important because I think there's a lot of people in today's world that might not know how to do that.

They've got all these different platforms and all these different things that are coming at them. I mean, you know, when I was here at bcit, the Internet was just brand new. It was, you know, there was no.

If we had phones, cellular phones, there was no screens on them. They were just buttons. Right now there's all these different mediums that are there for whoever to ingest, to take in. And it never was like that.

But you know what? Talk to your parents, they'll say the same thing.

Co-Host Kat Stewart: 00:21:03

Yeah. And the generations before that.

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:21:05

Right. Like, that's just how things progress.

Co-Host Kat Stewart: 00:21:09

It occurs to me you're really talking about emotional maturity. And to go back to the now, all you have is the moment, and in that moment, you have a choice to react this way.

Or that way, the past is gone, the future hasn't happened. There's nothing to fear because the future hasn't happened.

So if you take ownership of how you act and react in a positive way, because you can react in a negative way, too. But isn't it more helpful to react in a way that's going to model that for your child and those around you?

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:21:46

If you can, if the circumstances allow you to do it, for sure. I used to referee soccer at quite a high level back when I was fit.

And I always remember a good piece of advice that was given to me because as an official, you'd have to make some calls. You might make decisions that players or coaches or fans don't like. And sometimes you make mistakes, just like players do, just like employees do.

And one of the best pieces of advice was if something happened, that if you could park it and move on, who you have in your life also makes a big difference. Guys, it took me a long time to find somebody that I really wanted to settle down with. Right. And that. But it shouldn't be that hard.

But, man, is it hard.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:22:55

It took me, like, 50 years.

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:22:57

So I hear you in there, but I'll tell you what. And I know I'm speaking to people that would say the same thing.

Like, when you have those people in your life that you know that are genuine and that you can talk to about anything, and sometimes it's really hard for people to do that. Boy, does that help in the journey, whether you're, like, wounded. Yeah, right. It really, really helps.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:23:24

Before we run out of time, I want to look at the professional Joey Kenward.

Co-Host Kat Stewart: 00:23:27

Ah, yes.

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:23:28

Okay.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:23:29

The Joey Kenward that's on mic and on camera. I'm going to ask you three quick questions that we want to ask all our guests about performance. Okay?

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:23:37

Okay.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:23:38

So the professional Joey, how did you find your voice?

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:23:43

Captain Kevin, I was gonna say in your class. Freeing the natural voice.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:23:47

Dan, you got some money for Joy.

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:23:49

I'm sure I'm not the only guest who's brought that book up. I don't have mine.

Co-Host Kat Stewart: 00:23:57

We have a copy for you right here.

Co-Host Kat Stewart: 00:23:58

Joey.

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:23:58

Yeah.

I know this might sound cheesy, but I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be a broadcaster, you know, and tried to do everything I could in my younger days to prepare me for broadcasting school and then eventually being in the industry. So where did I find my voice? How did I find my voice? I watched a lot of television, listened to a lot of radio back in the day.

This is way before Podcasts or any type of digital service. Watched, you know, and just had a lot of people that I idolized.

And through school, you know, there was no radio class, there was no broadcasting class in high school. But how did I find it? And, you know, I was doing the public address at, you know, high school.

Sports or reading the announcements at high school, and the school day got started.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:24:53

You. You felt the urge early on.

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:24:55

I felt the urge early on.

Co-Host Kat Stewart: 00:24:56

I remember you at 19. I saw that fire in your eyes. And you remind me, which is why I brought it up earlier. Jamie Campbell.

I met him when he was 19, when we went to now Toronto Metropolitan University. He had that same fire in his eyes at 19. I would love to introduce you to. I think you two would hit it off.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:25:16

Okay, last question. What do you think makes someone charismatic?

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:25:22

Self confidence. And not by any means saying cockiness or. I know what I'm talking.

Just someone that is very comfortable in their own body, that is just assure of themselves. Like they're. I'm not saying they've, you know, strutting around and. And just this aura of confidence, but it's just that I think is charisma. I think.

I don't. I. I've never been asked that question.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:25:57

It's a weird question. Well, that might lead to one more question then.

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:25:59

Okay.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:26:00

And that is, how would you tell someone else to ignite their voice?

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:26:05

Let's be honest. There's people that you could desperately try to get out of it, and they don't have it. Right.

I'm sure you've experienced that over many years of teaching and trying to get people to.

Co-Host Kat Stewart: 00:26:15

Because they don't want it.

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:26:17

Maybe, or they don't. That's probably what it is. They don't want it. Or quite frankly, some of them just don't have it.

I guess the thing I would say is don't be afraid to try. Don't be afraid to.

When somebody's trying to speak a little bit louder or to think about what they're saying or just sort of taking a moment and trying to process. Okay. How do I get my voice to sound a little bit more clear? I think. Yeah. Trying to get the. That is also a very tough question.

Co-Host Kat Stewart: 00:26:58

Because quite frankly, there's no perfect answer to that.

Guest Joey Kenward: 00:27:01

There's some people that don't have it that just. They might want to try it. They just don't have it. But I do honestly think that not being afraid to take the steps is to try.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:27:14

Joey's story is powerful. Perspective changes everything. What once felt like agony can transform into purpose if we let it.

Co-Host Kat Stewart: 00:27:24

He's proof that voice and vulnerability are part of the same healing process. When we speak openly, we just don't find strength. We give others permission to do the same.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:27:36

Now, if Joey's story inspired you, consider becoming a stem cell donor. You might just be the voice of hope for someone else.

Co-Host Kat Stewart: 00:27:45

And remember, emotional maturity isn't about controlling everything. It's about choosing how you act and react and then and leading with quiet confidence, just like Joey does.

Co-Host Kevin Ribble: 00:27:56

Until next time, keep breathing, keep speaking, and keep igniting your voice.

Co-Host Kat Stewart: 00:28:02

Find your key to success and work with one of our talent development or coaches. Log on to ignitemyvoice.com.

Intro Announcer: 00:28:11

Ignite my voice. Becoming unstoppable. Your voice is your superpower.

Intro Announcer: 00:28:18

Use it.