Seth Udinski, FISM News
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In a heartwarming story from sports, two teams from the NHL recently gave a $10,000 grant to a young medical student credited with discovering a cancerous mole on the team’s equipment manager at a game, quite possibly saving his life.
On October 23, medical student Nadia Popovici was attending a game between the Vancouver Canucks and the Seattle Kraken in Seattle. She was seated close behind the Canucks’ bench and noticed a mole on the neck of Vancouver’s equipment manager Brian “Red” Hamilton. Based on her limited medical training she believed that the mole could be potentially cancerous.
After the game, Popovici somehow got Hamilton’s attention from behind the glass and showed him a typed message on her phone imploring him see a doctor for the mole. Hamilton agreed, and sure enough, the mole was cancerous and could have been deadly for Hamilton if ignored much longer.
Hamilton wanted the chance to thank this woman who helped save his life, so on New Year’s Day, the Canucks tweeted a message asking their fanbase to help reconnect him with Popovici.
#HockeyTwitter, we need your help!
Please RT to spread the word and help us connect Red with the woman he considers his hero. pic.twitter.com/HlZybgOnjf
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) January 1, 2022
The Canucks’ fanbase responded, and the two reconnected that same day. The team shared the heartwarming reunion between Brian Hamilton the woman he now calls his hero for saving his life:
The internet community helped us find Brian's hero, Nadia, and tonight they met in person where he got to express his sincerest thank you to her for saving his life.
A story of human compassion at its finest. pic.twitter.com/66ogo5hB1a
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) January 2, 2022
Hamilton said of his whole miraculous ordeal,
It was only on the outer layer of my skin. It hadn’t penetrated to the second layer of my skin, and that’s because we caught it so early. It was relatively new. She extended my life. I’ve got a wonderful family. I’ve got a wonderful daughter. She saved my life.
At the rematch between the Canucks and the Kraken on Jan. 1, the two teams combined to give Popovici a $10,000 scholarship for medical school.