5:19 PM
Brian "Red" Hamilton is indebted to the kindness of a stranger.
The assistant equipment manager noticed a fan banging on the glass at the first home game of the Kraken. It's a common occurrence, and one Hamilton might have just ignored.
Hamilton saw the woman's phone with a message written in large, colorful style as he was leaving the bench.
The mole on the back of your neck is cancer.
She was correct. Hamilton had a mole biopsied and found that the cancer was only on the outer layer of his skin and hadn't yet penetrated to the inner layer. Hamilton will forever call her his hero because of the early detection of that discovery.
Hamilton said that she saved his life. She took me out of a slow fire, but she didn't take me out of a burning car. If I ignored that for four to five years, I wouldn't be here. I didn't know the mole was there. She pointed it out. I can't believe how she saw it. It wasn't big. I have a radio on the back of my jacket that hooks on, so the cords are there. She's a hero.
The search for Nadia began after the Canucks sent out a message with Hamilton's story. Hamilton wanted to thank the woman who was the first to alert him to the health crisis.
The message you showed me on my cell phone will stay in my head forever, and it has made a huge difference to me and my family. Thanks to your persistence and the quick work of our doctors, the mole on the back of my neck is gone. We need you to help us find a real life hero by sharing with your friends and families that we are looking for this incredible person.
We need your help!
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Please spread the word and help us connect Red with the woman he considers his hero.
The Canucks will play in January 1, 2022.
A member of the Ladies of the Kraken Facebook group, Yukyung Nelson, made a connection after seeing that the tweet was reposted across social media.
Oh my gosh! This was my daughter. Nelson wrote. She just got accepted into several medical schools. She typed a message into her phone and knocked on the window to get his attention after she noticed a mole on his neck. He nodded after she got his attention. We didn't think about it anymore. This is amazing!
The story began to pick up steam, and as it did so, Nadia was unaware of the stir she'd created. The aspiring physician was still in bed after working at a suicide hotline, but he had plans to attend the game on Saturday night.
Hamilton hopes he can deliver his gratitude in person. The father said he felt bad that he didn't give her the time of day when she flashed her phone at him. It will be better if they can connect again.
"Thank you, I'll tell her," Hamilton said. My mom wants her to know that she loves her. I will let her know that my mom sent me a message. I will thank her for being persistent. She went over the top to get my attention. It is not easy. There's a lot going on, people are asking for things or people are saying things that you don't like, you just want to get off the bench, and she was so persistent, and I just want her to know that her persistence was what saved my life.
Hamilton had to act on his own after being planted in his mind. After the Saturday night game, Hamilton asked his wife if he had a mole on his neck, and she said no. She noted that it was a weird shape. At the home game of the Canuck's on Tuesday, Hamilton approached Bovard about what to do next.
I asked Dr. Bovard what he thought about the mole on my neck. Hamilton recalled. He said that he doesn't like to play games with moles. If you're worried about the way it'll look, I can cut it out. He said he was not a professional. If I cut it out, you'll have a scar. I'm not worried about a scar if you think it should come out. Let's get it out of the way. He brought the equipment to cut it out. He got it out for the biopsy half an hour before the game. I made an appointment to have a bigger piece taken out after I got the results from the biopsy, but they came back negative for everything.
Hamilton wanted to wait until he knew what had happened to him. The timing was perfect for the return of Vancouver to Seattle. He was floored by the rapid response to Hamilton's message, which was released early Saturday morning.
Hamilton's intentions were never to become the story. He wanted to raise cancer awareness.
The letter is about finding a hero, but it's also about people reading and going, and the doctor told the guy he's five years from not being here. The letter was not cryptic. It was straight-up. The hero noticed a mole on my neck, and she was right. I get it removed. I have learned thatmelanomas are on the bottoms of your feet. You can see them behind your ear. It's not obvious. I have a fair complexion. I should have paid more attention to it. I would help save someone else's life if I could.
Hamilton looked around to see where the glass would have been and he admitted he was a little emotional to be back on the bench. Hamilton's future is thanks to the vigilance of one individual who refused to let him walk away, and it was happenstance that put him in her sight line to begin with.
She is the person that did this. He said that she saved his life. She needs to know that her efforts were valid and that the reaction to her efforts resulted in this coming off of her body. Imagine if you saved a life, but you don't know it. I want to say thank you to her.
