A 31-year-old Kitchener, Ont., man diagnosed with an unexpected brain tumour while on vacation in Thailand last winter has died.
Alex Witmer and his wife Jennifer made headlines following a battle with the couple’s insurance company who denied a $265,000 claim for an air-ambulance to Toronto but then walked back that decision, fully covering transportation home as well as his medical treatment and expenses.
A GoFundMe page was set up to help the couple cover costs needed to get back to Canada, raising more than $80,000 in donations. News of his death was shared on the page on Monday.
“It is with great sadness that I write this update. Jen shared with me yesterday that Alex has passed away, at the age of 31. Thank you to all of you for your support, and your kindness. We will miss him so very much,” writes Sharilyn West, an organiser of the page and close friend of the couple.
The couple left their home in New Brunswick for a vacation prior to their planned move back to Toronto. They were about a month into their vacation in Thailand when Witmer began suffering from a severe migraine. Scans done at a hospital in Koh Samui revealed he had a tumour inside his brain.
Witmer then received treatment in Canada. In January, he underwent two eight-hour surgeries to remove the tennis ball-sized tumour in his brain. Surgeons removed 85 per cent of the tumour and Witmer began physiotherapy and speech therapy.
In April, his wife Jennifer took to Instagram to update followers about his condition.
“It’s been a tough few weeks. Well, months really. Meningitis hit hard among a handful of other complications. Thankful for home healthcare so he can continue his IV antibiotics at home and is finally out of the hospital! A second pathology report revealed things weren’t what they seemed at first,” wrote Jennifer.
A second pathology report found that the tumour was cancerous and Witmer was diagnosed with epithelioid glioblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer.
His wife announced on Sunday that Witmer had died, posting a picture with a caption that reads: “Alex Witmer. February 26, 1989 – June 14, 2020.”