By Jim Prime (’69)

It’s impossible to miss the pride in the voices of Joy and Rodney Vidito when they talk about their son Nick. Certainly there’s a persistent undertone of sadness as well, but it’s soon overwhelmed by precious memories of what this exceptional young man accomplished before succumbing to muscular dystrophy in 2016 at the age of 28.

The disease did not prevent Nick from living an active and productive life and pursuing his many passions. “He got his first wheelchair when he was in Grade Primary and his first power chair in Grade 6,” recalls Joy. “That opened doors for him and allowed him to get around. He always found a way.”

Nick graduated with honours from Middleton Regional High School in 2006, but not before capturing the school’s Spirit Award for Grades 10, 11, and 12. He became the ambassador for Muscular Dystrophy for Canada in 2013, did all his own research on MD and spoke at churches in Kingston and Middleton. He was presented with the bronze level of the Duke of Edinburgh Award by Prince Edward. He also earned a Graphic Design diploma from the Annapolis Community College in Middleton.

Joy and Rodney give much of the credit for Nick’s success to Acadia’s Sensory Motor Instructional Leadership Experience (S.M.I.L.E.) program. He joined S.M.I.L.E. in 1994 at the age of seven and formed lifelong friendships with fellow participants and instructors. Already an avid Toronto Maple Leafs fan, he also fell in love with Acadia Axemen hockey.

“His first S.M.I.L.E. buddy was Axeman Paul Doherty (’98),” says Joy. “That’s when we started our Acadia hockey life. He loved hockey so much. He ate, drank and slept hockey.”

Doherty was an Axemen legend, an all-star defenseman who would help lead the team to its second national title (in 1996). He was a first team all-Canadian, CIAU MVP, and is an Acadia Hall of Famer. His impact on Nick was equalled only by Nick’s impact on him.

“Nick was an amazing person on so many different levels,” Doherty says. “He always had a smile on his face and even on his toughest days, nothing brought him down. We became very close friends in my time at Acadia and had the chance to share many great experiences. I’ve always said that as a student helping in the S.M.I.L.E. program, I learned more from Nick than I could ever have taught him. He was simply an outstanding person and I miss the days when we played floor hockey in the main gym and then went for a swim every Saturday morning. I also cherish those memories.”

Indomitable spirit

Former Axemen centre Adam Armstrong (’02), a Citizenship Award winner, Academic All-Canadian and Student of the Year, was another S.M.I.L.E. volunteer who benefitted from the indomitable spirit of Nicholas Vidito.

“Nicholas Vidito was truly one of the boys,” Armstrong says. “My biggest fan, my brother from Nova Scotia, who always cheered us on. The Axemen were a second family to Nicholas and we truly loved seeing him at the rink and around the players. He was an amazing friend who loved hockey. More importantly, he was kind, funny and always smiling. Unless we lost! Meeting Nicholas and being buddies over my time was truly something special and I was lucky to experience it. Joy, Rodney and the family are the best.”

“I think the S.M.I.L.E. program gave him self-esteem,” Joy says. “He loved people, loved being around people and doing things. He was always playing hockey somewhere: the floor, grass, anywhere. He knew everything about the players and the staff. After every Acadia home game he’d go in the dressing room with the guys and have a chit-chat. Kevin Dickie and Darrin Burns (’95) and the other coaches were so good to us, and the players all got to know Nick.

“There are no words that really explain it. They just took him under their wing. We feel like they’re family. If we need them at any time, they are there for us. Unfortunately, we haven’t gone back for many games. We both found it too hard for a while.  But this year we’ll try to get to a few.”

Rodney agrees. “Paul and Adam came to our house for meals as if they were our own boys. And Len Hawley was part of the family as well. The boys just mean the world to us. They are very good to us, and we appreciate everything they do.”

A legacy of hope

Nick’s memory will live on in the hearts of all who knew him, and thanks to the efforts of Stephen Woodworth (’18), Hawley and others, his legacy of selflessness, hope and enthusiasm will be brought to the fore every year when the Nicholas Vidito Memorial Hockey Award is presented to a deserving Acadia hockey student-athlete. This honour will reflect the qualities that Nick exemplified: good academic standing, leadership, and serving as a role model for others.

Woodworth, a former defenseman for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the QMJHL and later an Acadia Axemen star (2014-2018), is a fellow Middletonian and family friend of the Viditos. “My older brother and sister were close with Nick,” he says. “I used to see him at high school hockey games in Middleton. He was a huge fan. He’d bring his wheelchair in and they’d position him slap-dab in the middle of all the fans at the far end of the rink. For a long time he was kind of the heartbeat of the arena. Even for away games, the team would request the bus with the (wheelchair) lift and they’d take him on road trips with them. It was pretty special. He was part of the team.”

When Woodworth was 16, he moved away from home to Cape Breton to play for the Screaming Eagles. He and Nick remained in touch through Facebook, phone calls and texts.

“He’d watch the games online and then we’d converse. We weren’t a very competitive team, but Nick was always supportive. He’d put a positive spin on where the team was headed. His positivity for himself – and for me – helped even when we were struggling to get out of the basement.”

After his time in the Q, Steve returned to the Valley and enrolled at Acadia, where he became an integral part of the hockey Axemen’s winning tradition.

“In my first season in 2014-15, Nick and Joy and Rodney came up from Middleton and they dropped the ceremonial puck, and even though I wasn’t the captain, I was out there for the puck drop. He came down to the dressing room before and after that game. It wasn’t long after that ceremony that Nick went into hospital.”

Like Doherty and Armstrong, Woodworth found Nick’s can-do attitude infectious.

“Nick was a special breed,” he says.  “Life had dealt him a tough hand, but he responded with positivity. He always had a glass-half-full attitude and a great perspective on life.”

The Nicholas Vidito Memorial Hockey Award

It was Acadia’s “voice of Axemen hockey,” Len Hawley, who approached Steve about helping to endow the Nicholas Vidito Memorial Hockey Award.

“Nick was such a fundamental part of Acadia Axemen hockey from a young age,” Woodworth says. “We thought it would be meaningful for Joy and Rodney and everyone who knew Nick to have an award in his name that would last in perpetuity, so we set out to create an endowment fund with criteria that it go to a deserving hockey player. You need $25,000 to qualify as an endowment. We had an inaugural golf tournament last summer that raised about $10,000.”

It’s rare but inspiring when a group of physically gifted athletes turn the tables and heap praise on a fan. But then, Nick Vidito was no ordinary fan. Although physically challenged, he had the heart of an athlete.

“Nick was not only the heartbeat of the arena, he was also the heartbeat of the community. People going through Middleton in summer always stopped to talk with Nick and he loved those conversations. He was like a bright light for everyone.”

For those wishing to make a donation to the Nicolas Vidito Memorial Hockey Award, please click HERE.

Pictured above: Nick Vidito (centre) with his parents, Rodney and Joy, NHL Hall of Famer Ray Bourque (centre right) and some Acadia friends, including (from left to right): Axemen head hockey coach Darren Burns ('95); Len Hawley; cardiologist Dr. Adam Clarke; and former Acadia Athletics Director Kevin Dickie.

Below: Nick with former hockey Axeman Paul Doherty ('98).