A hockey fan has been credited with saving a staffer’s life after she noticed a suspicious mole on the back of his neck.
Canadian ice hockey team, the Vancouver Canucks are celebrating an very special win after they found the woman who potentially saved a staffer’s life.
In October, hockey fan, Nadia Popovici spotted a small mole on the back of assistant equipment manager, Brian Hamilton’s neck. At the time she was seated behind the Canucks’ team bench and she made many attempts to catch Mr Hamilton’s attention.
Eventually she wrote out a message on her phone that read: “The mole on the back of your neck is possibly cancerous. Please go see a doctor!”
While the Canucks staffer initially dismissed the message, his wife and team doctor, Dr Jim Bovard, urged Mr Hamilton to have the mole biopsied. This revealed the spot to be cancerous.
Since October, the equipment manager has had the mole removed, with subsequent tests coming back negative.
Speaking to the Seattle Times, Ms Popovici – who is set to begin medical school – said she noticed the suspicious odd mole thanks to a stint spent volunteering in hospitals. There, she was “surrounded with a lot of melanomas,” and knew the mole’s large diameter, raised shape, discoloured nature and “irregular border” were potential red flags.
“He kind of glanced at my phone and walked away and I thought maybe he’d already seen it,” she told the publication. “Maybe he’d already gotten it checked out by a doctor, it’s probably fine.
“Then for this to happen months later, to hear he had possibly five years before showing debilitating symptoms. I mean, that’s, it’s just so incredible that I’ve had the opportunity to reach him at that moment.”
Had Mr Hamilton not followed Ms Popovici’s instructions, he could have faced debilitating health consequences within four to five years.
“I just think like, she extended my life. She didn’t take me out of a burning car like the big stories but she took me out of a slow fire,” he told the publication.
“And then words out of the doctor’s mouth where if I ignored that for four to five years, I wouldn’t be here.
‘Forever be etched into my brain’
After Mr Hamilton avoided a health catastrophe, he wanted to find Ms Popovici to share his thanks, and through social media, he did.
A tweet from the official Vancouver #Canucks Twitter account shared a letter written by Mr Hamilton which asked the hockey community to help “find a very special person”.
“Problem is, I don’t know who you are or where you are from,” the letter read.
“That evening, October 23rd, and the message you showed me will forever be etched into my brain and has made a true life-changing difference for me and my family.”
Ms Popovici had been identified by morning and the Canadian-American woman was able to meet Mr Hamilton at a game between the Vancouver Canucks and the Seattle Krakens – the team she barracks for.
During the game it was also announced that the Canucks and the Krakens would be gifting her with $A13,800 to go towards her tuition for medical school.
Speaking at a press conference after Ms Popovici was identified by social media sleuths, Mr Hamilton called her a hero.
“I want you all to know that this isn’t about me,” he said.
“It’s about an incredible person taking the time to notice something concerning and then finding a way to point it out during the chaos of a hockey game.”
– With AFP
Originally published as Vancouver Canucks fan given $13.8k after spotting a cancerous mole
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