Sharp Eyed Hockey Fan Saves The Life Of NHL Staffer

A sharp-eyed hockey fan who plans to start medical school in the fall most likely saved the life of a Vancouver Canucks staffer.

22-year-old Nadia Popovici was sitting behind the Vancouver bench at a Seattle Kraken’s game on October 23 when she noticed a mole on the neck of Canucks assistant equipment manager Brian “Red” Hamilton.

Popovici typed a message out on her phone, knocked on the plexiglass and got Hamilton’s attention. The message read: “The mole on the back of your neck is cancer.”

Hamilton has the mole removed a few days later and biopsy results revealed that the mole was indeed cancerous.

Doctors told him it was type-2 malignant melanoma, a type of skin cancer that, because it was detected early, could be easily removed and treated.

Hamilton and Popovici ended up being able to meet about 90 minutes before last Saturday night's Canuck-Kraken game.

"She extended my life," Hamilton told NHL.com.  "I've got a wonderful family. I've got a wonderful daughter. She saved my life. She didn't take me out of a burning car, but she took me out of a slow fire. The words out of the doctor's mouth were that if I ignored [the mole] for four to five years, I wouldn't be here."