Jayden Nelson: Inspirational late roster addition for Canada

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Growing up in Brampton, Ont., Jayden Nelson eventually had a dream of playing the game he loves and lives on its biggest stage.

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But before he was old enough to even have an imagination for such things as the World Cup — and barely big enough to boot around a soccer ball, let’s be honest — cancer nearly robbed him of it all.

The adversity that Nelson battled in the past year to fight his way onto Jesse Marsch’s squad, which ended when he was finally named to Canada’s roster on Tuesday, is nothing compared to Jayden’s life-and-death travails as a toddler.

At just 18 months of age, there was heartbreak in the Nelson family as the upbeat tot was diagnosed with a rare form of testicular germ cell cancer.

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Chemotherapy initially took it into remission, but when the disease returned to his lungs, Nelson’s devastated family was warned that the damage done would almost certainly mean that an active lifestyle, including sports, would be out of the question.

But look at him now, a last-minute replacement for injured Marcelo Flores, and a testament to fighting the good fight not just as a child, but as an elite athlete adult.

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“It’s a dream come true, especially with a World Cup at home and surviving cancer,” an emotional Nelson said on Tuesday prior to a Canadian training session in Downsview. “It’s a big deal. It’s just inspirational to a lot of people who want to do big things in life and hopefully I am able to be that person to look up to.”

How did Nelson pick up soccer?

It was in his days recovering at Toronto’s Hospital For Sick Children that soccer perhaps unwittingly became part of his therapy. As Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston wrote this past December, while Nelson was at the hospital receive treatment, his mother, Cleo Vidal, and a nurse, Julie Constantin, found a miniature soccer ball in a toy box in the oncology unit.

Sick but energetic, Nelson and that ball were as one, with the future soccer player kicking it through the halls as an announcement warned staff that he was coming.

So yes, if young kids can look up to the now strapping Canadian footballer, bring it on.

“For me, it’s bigger than just being called up to the national team to play in the World Cup,” Nelson said. “It’s more for the kids that aspire to be something big in their life.”

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Family has been important to Nelson throughout his life, so much so that when he found out earlier in the week that he got the promotion, knew who he had to call first: His grandfather, Owen Campbell, who never stopped believing in him and encouraged him to reach high.

“He was very emotional and he’s not an emotional guy,” Nelson said of that conversation. “He knows that there was a lot of work put into this … he’s the one who started everything early for me so I wanted him to be the first to know.”

What is Nelson’s soccer history in Toronto?

Nelson may not be a difference-maker for Canada in this World Cup and may not even see the field during Friday’s opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina at Toronto Stadium. But when it steps onto the field, it will be a full-circle moment for the 23-year-old, who has a tattoo of the CN Tower and is a product of the Toronto FC academy.

“It’s crazy the amount of time I spent here,” Nelson said of the TFC Training Grounds Canada is using this week. “It’s like I grew up here. And now it’s something that I can’t even really explain … the biggest event in the world in your backyard.”

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Nelson is not alone in those feelings. Another Toronto-area product, Liam Miller, who also began playing youth soccer in Brampton, prides himself on being uber focused on preparing for every match he competes in.

But the Hull City midfielder allows for the possibility of an adrenaline boost from the backdrop of the biggest game in his career.

“Being from Toronto and seeing the atmosphere and stuff in the city, it’s a little surreal for me, to be honest,” Miller said prior to Tuesday’s training session. “It’s my home town. It’s my home city. And I can’t wait for it.”

For Nelson, merely getting the opportunity to where the Canadian jersey in a tournament that he has dreamed on, had it taken away, and now given back, he intends to make the best of the opportunity, whenever it arises.

“My mindset coming into it was not trying to protect what I’ve done or what type of player they may think I am, but to try to create a new reputation every time I stepped on the field,” Nelson said. “It was just a relief (to get the call). It’s been a long time coming … and just a lot of emotions.”

And a story as impressive as it is inspiring.

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