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Ice hockey fan Nadia Popovici, here on January 1st in Seattle: She made a kit manager aware of melanoma
Photo: Ted S. Warren / AP
In the North American professional ice hockey league (NHL), a little heroic act occurred off the field: A budding medical student discovered a malignant skin tumor on the neck of a Vancouver Canucks kit attendant, possibly saving him from a fatal outcome.
During an away game in Seattle at the end of October, Nadia Popovici observed the Canucks' deputy kit manager Brian Hamilton as he cleared his team's benches.
When he turned around, Popovici held her phone against the glass with a message in large, colorful letters, according to a report by the NHL.
The man later visited a dermatologist and found out a few days after the game that it was indeed a malignant melanoma.
It has since been removed.
Thanks to the early findings, the cancer cells have not yet penetrated into the lower layers of the skin.
On Saturday, Hamilton and his rescuer met for the first time, the team had searched for her on Twitter.
In the first moment of the diagnosis, the kit manager had just read the message, nodded and turned back to his work, the reports say.
“I was blown away.
I just shrugged and carried on. ”When he found out she was right, he felt bad.
"She is a heroine."
"I didn't know it was there," said Hamilton.
He was surprised that she could see it because he was wearing a jacket.
"She's a heroine." Popovici said she did a lot of volunteer work in hospitals, including an oncology ward.
To thank Popovici for what she did, the two ice hockey teams teamed up and awarded Popovici a $ 10,000 scholarship for studying medicine.
"It made my life longer," said Hamilton.
“I have a wonderful family.
I have a wonderful daughter.
She saved my life.
She didn't pull me out of a burning car, but she got me out of a slow fire. ”Hamilton was told by his doctors that the cancer could have become life-threatening in a few years if left untreated.
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