Stampede Showband pays tribute to member who died of cancer
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As fireworks from the Calgary Stampede’s evening show shot up into the sky, Cindy Chetner watched them from her hospital bed just hours before she gave birth to her son Elan Suissa in 1999.
She calls him her Stampede baby and, little did she know at the time, but the annual event in Calgary would become a defining factor in her son’s short but full life.
Elan died at 18 years old after a battle with a rare form of cancer in 2017.
However, in the years leading to his death he fought the disease with a spirit unmatched by many.
One particular activity gave him the strength in facing rigorous chemotherapy and radiation sessions. It was performing the marimba in the Calgary Stampede Showband.
“Music was the best drug he had,” says Chetner, with her husband Yossi Suissa adding, “It became a really, really important part of his treatment and quality of life during his two-year marathon of fighting cancer.”
The same week in which Elan was accepted to the prestigious show band, he received the life-altering diagnosis. Despite the obvious hardships he would face juggling both, the show band embraced him and doctors encouraged him to continue his passion.
Chetner says his loss was felt by many.
Now, two years later, members of the show band are paying tribute to Elan by playing a tune he composed shortly before his death during their daily performance on the steps of the Saddledome at Stampede.
His mom describes it as emotional, but joyous.
“It’s literally keeping the music alive. It’s keeping Elan alive,” she says.
Chetner remembers when her son first became infatuated with the marimba. When Elan was eight, he saw somebody playing it in the Stampede Showband.
“He couldn’t take his eyes off of it; he was transfixed,” she recalls.
From that point, he dedicated himself to music, playing a range of percussion instruments, studying music at the Mount Royal University Conservatory and finally landing a spot in the Stampede show band in 2016.
That’s when his life changed in more ways than one.
“The doctors said he didn’t have much of a chance of survival. But we were going to fight it,” says Chetner. “It was quite inspiring how he would be so sick, and he would find energy for his music rehearsals and just loved being with his Showband family.”
Despite a brutal year of treatments, Elan was “miraculously” able to play during the 2016 Stampede. Although things were looking up, the cancer, however, came back in force.
“It was like one thing after the other kept coming back in different ways. He tried every experimental treatment that they could (offer.) He just said, ‘Bring it on’ and, absolutely, it was music that kept him going,” says his mom.
He lost movement in part of his body shortly after, affecting his ability to play instruments. But, as with anything Elan did, he made the most of a bad situation and volunteered with the show band so he could stay close to the people he called family. He took photos of them, set out snacks, and even ran to what is now known as Elbow River Camp to grab bannock for a friend whose foot was sore.
That’s just the type of person Elan was.
He also started composing music on his computer, when he was unable to play instruments like before.
It was then that he created a song called “smoice” and played it with a couple of friends. The song name was created after he said the words “smooth voice” too fast.
It’s the tune that now rings out mid-show to dozens of Stampede goers.
“We’re so grateful, just full of gratitude,” says Chetner.
His legacy lives on through the Elan Suissa Legacy Fund and through the show band group.
Chetner says he has inspired many of the young members of the team.
“Kids I have never met come up to me with tears in their eye and say, ‘We’re sorry we never met Elan, but he inspires us everyday to try harder and to not complain and do the best we can.’”
On Twitter: alanna_smithh
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