In a prepared statement announced on October 19, MacDonald said the decision came based on the recommendations of his doctors. He intends to apply for a medical hardship waiver with the NCAA, which will preserve his final year of eligibility.

“It was tough,” MacDonald said after making the decision in a teleconference with the local media. “But it was almost better that they said ‘you can’t play this year from having surgery.’ If they wouldn’t have said I couldn’t have played, I would have pushed myself and tried to get back in the lineup … and it probably wouldn’t have happened.”

While the Engineers are relieved to hear MacDonald’s health has improved, they must now face the reality of replacing their top goal scorer and leader in the lineup, a process which began before the season even started.

MacDonald, who was extremely candid and upbeat in the conference call, dropped 55 pounds from his 6’1,’’ 210 pound frame after four surgeries and four rounds of chemotherapy treatments. He said he will take the year to recover, but reiterated his hockey days are not over in his mind or the minds of his doctors.

Time will tell if MacDonald’s story will be Lance Armstrong-esque, but it is certainly remarkable in its own sense, especially considering MacDonald played threw immense back pain for the second half of last season and still managed to lead his team with 16 goals and 36 points, scored the game-winning goal in the Big Red Freakout! against Brown with under ten seconds remaining, and tallied two points in the team’s playoff series against the same Bears.

“[The trainers and I] tried to treat it and by the end of the season I couldn’t even sleep at night,” Kirk said. “I’d wake up in pain and honestly I don’t know how I played in the last weekend of the season against Brown. I was in real bad pain and could barely tie up my skates on my own.”

Once he was officially diagnosed with testicular cancer in April of 2005 his doctors quickly got the ball rolling toward treating the illness. His first surgery, which removed the cancerous testicle, was performed at Albany Medical Center on April 12th.

After MacDonald’s initially surgery Rensselaer men’s hockey Head Coach Dan Fridgen took his suffering star into his home without hesitation until he had recovered enough to return with his parents to his native Vancouver, B.C.

“At Rensselaer we preach a family atmosphere,” Fridgen said. “[The hockey program] is our extended family and we have to be there for each other.”

Fridgen said he openly offered his home to Kirk and his family in effort to ease the stress the entire MacDonald family was experiencing.

“We wanted Kirk and his family to feel as comfortable as possible,” Fridgen said. “There is a bit of a bond you develop with your players that makes them feel like your sons. These parents have entrusted me with their most prized possessions and I greatly respect that.”

Once he finally returned home, MacDonald endured his chemotherapy treatments, which he handled fairly well after the initial treatment, before undergoing a brutal nine hour operation to remove the remaining cancer from his abdomen on August 2nd.

The operation was suppose to be his last but complications developed after the surgery that forced MacDonald to undergo two more surgical procedures—the last of which was on September 24—and be stuck in the hospital for 65 days from August 2 to October 6.

MacDonald would admit that the prolonged hospital stay was the first time he began to ask himself “why me?”

“To be honest with you when I was getting the cancer treatment and the chemotherapy I was pretty upbeat,” MacDonald said. “You’re in the hospital with other people getting chemotherapy and a lot of them were worse off then I was so I knew it could be a whole lot worse. To be honest the time I started thinking ‘why me?’ Was when I was in the hospital for those 65 days. You think ‘I’ve beaten the cancer’ then these other things come up that have nothing to do with the cancer.”

Now, finally back home, cancer free, and consuming a normally diet, MacDonald has begun the long process toward normal, but he admits he will never view life the same again.

“You look back on the stuff you used to complain about,” MacDonald said. “Whether it was going to the gym or classes, it all seems easier now than it did before.

You look at playing hockey and think ‘that’s easy’ whereas before you used to complain about getting up at 6am for practice or going to the gym then having practice. Now it all seems like a walk in the park compared to the stuff I deal with now. You get a new perspective but I think mine’s changed for the better.”

This “new perspective” is partially the inspiration behind which led to the Rensselaer men’s hockey team’s season long fundraiser to promote testicular cancer awareness and raise funds to combat the deadly disease.

The idea for the campaign, which has two RPI men’s hockey player shave their heads after each home game in an effort to raise $100 or more a night for testicular cancer research, originated after talks between MacDonald and senior forward and co-captain Kevin Croxton. Now MacDonald, whose hair has finally started to grow back after his chemotherapy treatments, is hoping to participate in the fundraiser.

“I think it’s a great idea that the guys are doing it, and you know my hair is finally growing back so hopefully when I get back they can shave my head and make some money for the cause,” MacDonald said.

MacDonald stated he plans to return to RPI for the spring semester and is hoping to get back to campus “as soon as possible.”

“I just want to be around the guys and be part of the team again,” MacDonald said; a sentiment shared by Coach Fridgen: