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Cancer victim takes one last Christmas whirl

Nick Newton has one more Christmas to celebrate and the 69-year-old Ottawa man, who’s dying of lung cancer, is keen to enjoy each moment he has left.

This week, Newton invited CBC to join a party that included his closest friends and family. They rented a limo, stocked it with beer and oysters and took off for a tour of the capital's Christmas lights.

"There's no grumps allowed. No negativity, which is difficult to do for some of us," said Newton of the party's rules. "But we're going to make it through Christmas."

While retirement is a welcome phase in the lives of some, the bad news of a cancer diagnosis shortly followed Newton's last day on the job.

"I was an accountant and I just retired and I got small-cell lung cancer, which they worked on for over a year and finally had to give up," he said.

But Newton said he's not giving up on the short time he has left; doctors give him between two and four weeks to live.

Keeping with their Christmas traditions, Newton and his wife Wendy have several parties planned, just one being their stretch limo light tour.

"Initially people come in looking like they're going to a funeral, but they go out laughing," said Newton.

A positive attitude is important to Newton and he said he plans on keeping his right to the end.

"What you can prevent, fight like hell," he said. "But if you can't prevent it, then enjoy the ride."