Husky named Diesel, NIU's 'mascot emeritus,' has cancer

Northern Illinois University's beloved "mascot emeritus," Diesel, is being treated for Type B lymphoma.

According to his longtime handler, Tom Bonnevier, the husky was diagnosed Aug. 21 with the cancer, which is in all his lymph nodes. Diesel turns 12 on Sept. 3, and he retired at the end of the 2013 NIU football season.

The dog had his first chemo treatment on Aug. 31.

"He's tolerating it," Bonnevier said Wednesday. But the illness has put a crimp in Diesel's retirement schedule -- the usual three or four walks a day through his Round Lake Beach neighborhood are on hold, and he's no longer greeting kids at the bus stop most afternoons.

"He's lived a good life," Bonnevier said, a small catch in his voice. "Being the NIU mascot for nine years was great for him -- he met a lot of people and went to a lot of places. Hopefully, the cancer'll go into remission."

Bonnevier and his family got Diesel in 2005, a 2-year-old husky pup from the Free Spirit shelter in Harvard. Two years later, when NIU was thinking about having a mascot, his daughter, Cassie, was cheerleading. "I've got a dog!" she volunteered.

Diesel took to his mascot role like one born to greatness. A beautiful dog with big blue eyes, he charged around the stadium during pregame ceremonies and after touchdowns, loved to tailgate and never flinched when the cannon was shot off on the football field.

He developed a charming trick of high-fiving cheerleaders when the Huskies scored. As the NIU football program got more TV exposure in recent years, Diesel became a national media darling.

The cancer has slowed him up greatly, but Bonnevier says just Tuesday he took his longest walk since he fell ill, past the end of their cul-de-sac.

Bonnevier says Diesel's prognosis is unclear but by no means hopeless. He'll have more chemotherapy on Sept. 21, and in between there will be blood work to see if the drug is having an effect. "We won't know for awhile," he says.

Cassie (Bonnevier) Cleary and Tom Bonnevier created a Facebook page for Diesel, where they invite Diesel's friends to post and share, and where they'll post occasional updates on his condition. Find it at www.facebook.com/dieselthehuskie.