At 5:30 a.m.,Carter Hipkin is being lightly shaken awake by his parents.
They help the groggy 13-year-old put on his mask and start the roughly two hours of treatment that has become just a regular piece to his daily schedule. Carter begins inhaling his medications for an hour and a half before the physical portion of his chest treatments begins.
The parents lay their child on a board and beat his back and sides for a half an hour until he is able to cough up the mucus sticking to his lungs. This is just the start of his day.
At 8 a.m., Carter heads off to school, while around the same time, Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is arriving to the rink to begin his game-day routine.
Over the course of the day, Carter will take 40 pills and his treatments begin again in the evening. This is a regular day, a good day - a healthy day.
At night, Carter sits on the living room couch staring intently at the television as he cheers on his favourite team - all whilst his nebulizer mask pumps medication into his lungs and his number-93 jersey rests on his person.
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