The family of New York Rangers legend Ron Duguay has opened up about his battle with cancer, explaining how they faced the tragedy together with the help of his girlfriend Sarah Palin.
“He almost died several times,” Duguay’s daughter Shay Thomas told Page Six.
The family launched a GoFundMe this week to help the Canadian hockey professional with rising medical costs. The professional player played six seasons in New York in the 1970s and 1980s and then became an analyst for the MSG Network.
Shay said she felt healthy until her father was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer in November 2024.
“He wants to share it with people to get a colon exam,” Thomas tells us. “He had always been healthy. This was very shocking to him. But he had never had a colon exam.”
Thomas said the first sign that something was wrong came when Duguay was in Alaska visiting Palin.
“He was… working in the garden and had gas in his stomach and was very tired,” Thomas says. “He had to take a nap and noticed he was becoming uncomfortable. He returned to Florida and saw his primary care physician, where blood tests were done and they noticed his cell count was dropping.”
Doctors soon discovered that the cancer had already spread.
“It was originally colon cancer, and it had spread to my liver and everywhere else,” she explains.
Duguay, 68, told Page Six this week that he lost his appendix and part of his gallbladder. Since then, he has endured multiple rounds of chemotherapy and had a port installed in his liver.
“He lost his hair and developed a rash on his skin. Each treatment responds differently,” Thomas said, laughing, adding that the silver lining was that his hair “got a great color and was quite thick” after it started growing back.
Palin, 62, has been by his side throughout, spending five days with him in the hospital after one surgery.
“Sarah has been so supportive and incredibly supportive throughout the whole journey,” Thomas says. “Relationships can be rocky sometimes because she’s in Alaska and he’s in Florida. She’s been so great.[Duguise’s other daughter]Amber and I make sure to go to all the appointments, and I’m the one talking to the doctors. If he needs her for something, she’s there for him that night, red-eyed.”
“Sarah has been a huge support not only to my dad but to our entire family and we are so grateful for everything,” she added.
Duguay recently underwent radiation therapy, but his cancer markers rose again. But the family received a hopeful update this week. He has been accepted to participate in a new clinical trial aimed at helping the body’s T cells fight cancer more effectively.
“He was just approved two days ago,” Thomas said. “I really appreciate it.”
Still, the mental burden was immeasurable.
“He would think he was at the end of the road and then it would show up again,” she says. “He stands by his beliefs, and so do we. It’s incredibly difficult. Me and my sister will stay strong in front of him. He’s always been strong and athletic and worked on his fitness. So for him not to be in his normal state was a huge shock to him. We’re trying to stay positive and hopeful and we’re going to do everything available to help all of this.”
A GoFundMe has already raised more than $50,000 to help cover travel expenses, treatment, holistic care and possible treatment abroad.
“The whole thing cost him a lot of money and he couldn’t work,” Thomas says. “My sister and I have been trying to help him, but everything is so expensive. He doesn’t like asking people for help, so we were against doing a GoFundMe for a long time.”
“We still have a ways to go to figure everything out and we’re grateful because he was having a hard time paying his bills and getting here for treatment. I decided to go through with it regardless of his feelings, and now he’s stress-free and grateful.”
“I need to get better so I can help others,” Duguay said earlier this week.
He previously co-hosted the New York Post Sports podcast “Up in the Blue Seats.”
In addition to the Rangers, he also played for the Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Los Angeles Kings.
