Techie teen from Winnipeg being remembered for cancer research efforts

A Winnipeg teenager who made headlines for his efforts in assisting cancer research has died.

On Feb. 19, Dylan Bucci died at the age of 19 from cancer. Now, his family and friends, as well as medical researchers, are honouring his legacy.

When Dylan Bucci was in Grade 10 at Sisler High School, he restored donated computers to give processing power for cancer mapping and childhood cancer research on the World Community Grid.

"He started the computer project because our grandparents both suffered with cancer and they both survived,” Spencer Bucci, Dylan’s brother said in an interview with CTV. “He saw that they never gave up and he never wanted to give up either.”

The young computer wiz’s legacy will live on throughout North America through ongoing medical research.

Dr. Charles Keller, the scientific director of the Children’s Cancer Therapy Development Institute in the United States works on finding cancer treatments.

He says one year of Dylan’s processing power saved them 168 years of processing time.

“We were actually looking forward to hiring him at one point,” Keller said in an interview with CTV. “Somebody who is math enabled and is able to do coding is exactly the kind of person that will end up curing cancer.”

In 2019, Dylan and his Sisler Cyber Academy instructor, Robert Esposito, were invited to Krembil Research Institute in Toronto. Dylan was the first volunteer to get a tour of the facility.

A year later that work would become even more personal for Dylan. In the summer of 2020, he was diagnosed with cancer—Ewing’s Sarcoma.

Despite being in pain from the cancer and chemo, the teen kept his computer work going.

“He wanted to continue doing that and he was passionate about that,” Spencer said. “That was part of the biggest reason that he wanted to fight.”

Esposito says Sisler has created a computer club in Dylan’s honour.

"We kind of hope to provide more insight and information to everybody on how they can contribute their processing power to various medical research around the globe,” Esposito said.

Erik Easper is one of the students at Sisler High School making sure Dylan’s computing work continues. He manages the Dylan Bucci Grid Computing Club.

"It just really feels good to be able to contribute,” Eaper said in an interview.

Dylan’s father, Michael, hopes other people will donate processing power on their own devices.

“The little or the lots of computing power that you can offer, you can buy somebody 10 more minutes, an hour, or 10 years,” Michael said.

Earlier this year—Keller sent Dylan and his family a video and told him his next project is being done in Dylan’s honour.

“Behind me is a team of people that are working on the molecules modelled in order for us to develop drugs for Ewing’s Sarcoma and other bone cancers,” Keller said in the video.

Dylan died weeks later.

"I wish we could have kept Dylan in this world,” Keller said. “I wish we would have found that treatment sooner in a period of time where it would have made a difference in his life.”

Instead of flowers, the family is collecting donations to finish the house repairs they were doing to accommodate Dylan’s illness. They say they are donating the rest to organizations such as Krembil Research Institute, World Community Grid, and CancerCare Manitoba.