Red light ticket gives senior green light to live
If doctors said you had only months to live, what would be the things you just had to do? Travel the world? Make amends with estranged family? Fight a red light traffic ticket?
James Aisaican-Chase, 71, was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Doctors had given him only a few months to live, and he had marked June 28 on his calendar as his "deadline" day.
Despite the grim prognosis, he's spending his remaining days fighting a traffic ticket.
If I give up on the ticket, I might as well give up on the cancer.- James Aisaican-Chase
Aisaican-Chase's fight made headlines in late April, where he argued for longer amber light times at certain Winnipeg intersections. He says cars that are driving the speed limit — as he was the day he got the ticket — can't safely clear the intersection in the four seconds that are given.
Aisaican-Chase's life expectancy was so short that the courts allowed him to put his argument on the record early, in case he didn't make it to the actual court date in September.
For him, the cancer and the ticket are inextricably linked. He feels that if he puts enough energy into fighting cancer, he'll beat it. And if he puts the same amount of energy into fighting the ticket, he just might beat the ticket though he's more optimistic of beating the cancer than the ticket.
"If I give up on the ticket, I might as well give up on the cancer. I'm a fighter," he said. "If you give up on the battle for justice, and justice is keeping your body healthy, keeping yourself healthy — if you give up on that, then you might as well give up on everything."
This steadfast way of thinking could be paying off. In early May, doctors told him he has more time to live — or fight — as he prefers to see it.
"The chemo has caused the tumours to be greatly reduced, which is the best possible scenario they could possibly give me. And it probably means that my life expectancy is extended, which I'm very happy about," he said.
"I find it's very good news, cause you gotta trust your doctors and you gotta trust your prayers and I'm doing that."
