(originally published Oct. 9, 2011 in the Kamloops Daily News) By Catherine Litt MONTE CREEK — She lives in a modest little house on five hectares of unspoiled grassland, surrounded by a landscape so serene and picturesque it seems plucked from an old Hollywood western. Cattle drovers once roamed this land. She is like them… [Read more…]
April 29, 2009
By Catherine Litt Daily News Staff Reporter (originally published April 20, 2009) He was nervous; there was no getting around it. Ron Kopytko knew this moment was coming for days and had gone over it a million times in his head, sorting out all the steps, playing out every possible angle. In the… [Read more…]
August 28, 2008
Majestic ponderosa survives three centuries only to succumb to the mountain pine beetle (published Aug. 28, 2008 in the Kamloops Daily News) By CATHERINE LITT Daily News Staff Reporter The blue sedan rumbled along the dusty gravel road, its tires spitting pebbles through a trail of powdery dirt. Oliver Coster had driven this road many… [Read more…]
June 20, 2008
Since summer of 2007, the Kamloops Daily News has been following the life of Ron Kopytko, a 41-year-old Kamloops man who was diagnosed with prostate cancer — a disease that normally hits men who are much older. Since then, Ron and his family have gone through the ups and downs of dealing with his terminal… [Read more…]
June 4, 2008
By Catherine Litt Kamloops Daily News Staff Reporter On a Wednesday morning two weeks ago, eight women met in the main hall of Church of Cleopas. They pushed two tables together, set out a tray of cookies, a pot of tea, some pens and paper, and began to finalize the details for an… [Read more…]
March 22, 2008
(originally published March 19, 2008 in the Kamloops Daily News) His last wish was to plant a tree, but when Randy Nickerson’s illness took a turn for the worse, it looked as if that dream might die along with him. By Catherine Litt Kamloops Daily News There was a moment, as she watched the gardener… [Read more…]
November 5, 2007
CHAPTER FOUR: HOPE, ONE DRIP AT A TIME (Originally published Nov. 5, 2007 in the Kamloops Daily News) By Catherine Litt Daily News Staff Reporter “Don’t worry, everything is out of control.” When Ron Kopytko heard those words, he felt strangely at peace for the first time in months. Ever since he’d been told he… [Read more…]
November 3, 2007
A year has passed since Ron Kopytko was told he was dying of advanced prostate cancer. Last summer, headaches and fatigue were his worst symptoms; now pain and nausea are his constant companions. Ron’s PSA is rising rapidly and time continues to evaporate as he and his family look for ways to extend, if only… [Read more…]
October 27, 2007
How do you cope when your life is turned upside down by cancer, when all you can do is stare death in the face because that’s what you’ve been told is coming? For a Kamloops man and his family, those questions are playing out in a tragedy that shrouds them all. CHAPTER ONE: PRAYING FOR… [Read more…]
October 27, 2007
After months of hormone treatments and doctors’ visits, a Kamloops man’s chances of beating prostate cancer are fading. CHAPTER TWO: HOPING AGAINST HOPE (Originally published June 18, 2007 in the Kamloops Daily News) BY CATHERINE LITT Daily News Staff Reporter The nights are the toughest for Ron Kopytko. It has been eight months since his… [Read more…]
November 5, 2011
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