Diagnosis during an ice hockey match: A spectator becomes a savior for the crew manager

Monday 03 January 2022

Diagnosis during an ice hockey match
The spectator becomes a savior for the crew manager

In fact, medical student Nadia Popovici just wants to watch an ice hockey game in Vancouver. But then she noticed a suspicious mole on the neck of several stewardesses. The 22-year-old makes the man aware of her discovery – and may even save his life.

With a life-saving diagnosis on the sidelines, a young medical student has defeated the entire Canadian ice hockey club and its fans. Brian “Reed” Hamilton, one of the equipment supervisors for the first division ice hockey team Vancouver Canucks, was looking for his savior with a message distributed by the club via Twitter on Saturday.

“To the woman I am trying to find,” Hamilton wrote, “you changed my life and now I want to find you to say thank you very much.” The woman was one of the spectators in the Seattle Kraken’s game against the Vancouver Canucks on October 23. While doing so, she spotted a suspicious mole on the hostess’ neck standing in front of her and desperately tried to get his attention.

Finally, she wrote a message on her cell phone. I carried the cell phone screen up to the part separating viewers from the Canucks seat so Hamilton could read it. “The mole in the back of your neck could be cancerous. Please see a doctor!”

Hamilton’s letter to his anonymous savior spread quickly and within an hour it was located. It was Nadia Popovici, 22, who was recently accepted into medical school. Hamilton was thrilled at the press conference. “The only reason I wrote the letter was because I really wanted you to know that her persistence and everything she did was taken very seriously.”

Teams support Popovici . studies

Hamilton himself never noticed the dangerous mole. However, on examination, it turned out to be a malignant melanoma, also known as black skin cancer. Doctors removed the malignant tumor.

So Hamilton celebrated Popovici as a “champion”. She is “an incredible person who took the time to notice something unsettling and then find a way to draw attention to it during the chaos of ice hockey.”

On Saturday evening (local time), Popovici and Hamilton met in person at another game between the Canucks and the Kraken in Seattle. Popovici told Hamilton, “What a great way to start my path to medical school! This is invaluable.” For Hamilton she was so glad “you checked it out”.

During the match, when Popovici put on the octopus shirt, both teams announced that they would support Popovici’s medical studies with $10,000, or about 8,789 euros.