School in the hospital: a simple assignment turns into an important movement of solidarity

Grégoire’s journey, both academic and medical, is impressive. At just nine years old, the Montreal Children’s Hospital (MCH) patient is not only recovering from an aggressive recurrence of leukemia that nearly took his life, but also published a book featuring contributions from many renowned illustrators* and even Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki.

Grégoire was first diagnosed with leukemia in January 2024. After chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant, he was unfortunately readmitted to the hospital in November 2024. The disease had returned, more aggressive than before.

Traditional treatments were not working and there were fears for his life. The child had to be admitted to the hospital for several months. Despite his precarious health, Grégoire still found the energy to go to school, which he LOVES. Hospitalized children continue their education with teachers based in the hospital.

“His teacher at the hospital, Marie-Josée Longpré, is his favorite. Grégoire wants to go to the hospital just to go to school!” mentions his father, Matthieu Laroche.

After a critical week in intensive care, Grégoire started a school project with Marie-Josée: inventing a story.

“Although his condition was very fragile at the time, he started reciting his ideas to me and he was going so fast that I couldn’t write down everything he was saying,” says Marie-Josée.

A glimmer of hope and a book

In the days that followed, Marie-Josée and Grégoire managed to finish the story in audiobook form. During the same period, the child was accepted into a clinical trial in Toronto to try to stop the leukemia, a glimmer of hope when the family was running out of options.

After a month in Toronto, Grégoire returned to Montreal. The results were beyond the family’s wildest dreams: he had no more cancer cells. That’s when the family decided to pursue a crazy idea: to publish the book the boy had created with Marie-Josée.

Matthieu set about learning how to self-publish. Marie-Josée contacted illustrator Jean-Paul Eid. Excited by the project, he put together a team of 14 illustrators to put Grégoire’s words into images.

Nick Suzuki, who is mentioned in the story, kindly agreed to autograph 25 copies of the book, which will be sold at auction. The hockey player had met the boy during the Canadiens’ annual visit to the MCH and had fond memories of him.

The bilingual book can be purchased online here. Most of the proceeds (75 per cent) will go to the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation and 25 per cent to Leucan. For every book sold, Grégoire will donate one free copy to a child diagnosed in oncology.

After a second stem cell transplant, the boy is now considered to be in remission and has been able to return home after many months of not being able to sleep in his own bed! He is continuing his treatment and gradually rebuilding his immune system. His doctor, Dr. Christina Coleman, is cautiously optimistic and continues to monitor him to keep the disease at bay.

* Jean-Paul Eid, Jacques Goldstyn (Les Débrouillards), Rémy Simard, Pascale Constantin, Annie Groovie (Léon le Cyclope), Jimmy Beaulieu, Julien Paré-Sorel (Aventurosaure), André Martel, Élodie Duhameau, Chloé Baillargeon, Caroline Lavergne, Laurie Forest-Lechasseur, Laurent Pinabel, and Pascale Sévigny-Vallières.