More than $25,000 has been raised through a GoFundMe page for Broc Higginson, a well-known principal at École Agnes Davison, a Lethbridge elementary school.
On June 24, Higginson was airlifted from Chinook Regional Hospital to Foothills Hospital in Calgary after suffering a seizure in his home.
According to family, he hadn’t shown up to work that day, which was very out of character.
“They called me first, couldn’t get a hold of me,” said Higginson’s wife Steph Mills, who had been at their cabin in Wasa Lake, B.C. with their two kids at the time.
“His vice principal was amazing, she knew that it was wrong and she ended up saving his life by calling in to make sure that someone went to go check on him,” Mills said.
Doctors found two brain tumors as the likely cause of the seizure and Higginson spent a considerable amount of time in hospital.
“I asked his surgeon at the pre-op on Wednesday last week, ‘Is there any chance this is benign?’ and he said ‘No’,” Mills said.
At his surgery on Thursday, Mills said surgeons were able remove the majority of the tumors, but could not get rid of them entirely.
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Carla Tait, a family friend who organized the GoFundMe for the family less than two weeks ago said she was at a loss for how to help.
“It’s not that Broc and Steph wanted to reach out and ask. They didn’t at all.”
Since launching the fundraiser on July 30, hundreds of people have reached out to help, raising nearly triple the initial goal of $10,000 as of about 1 p.m. on Monday.
“Very humbling, for sure that people are this kind,” said Mills.
Joel Kotkas, owner of Lethbridge Fit Body Boot Camp, felt he could help them and the Lethbridge community all at once.
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He said he knows the family is passionate about health and fitness so the gym is taking registrations for their 4-Week Drop One Size Challenge that will begin on Aug. 17. All proceeds will be going toward the family.
“I’d personally love to hit a minimum of 100 people, which would be $10,000 that we could donate to the Higginson family,” said Kotkas.
Higginson is known for helping out with community fundraisers for Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Terry Fox Foundation.
The family is awaiting test results to determine his exact prognosis and hopes to provide updates throughout his journey.
“He is the strongest, most positive human being I’ve ever known and I suspect I ever will,” Tait said
They plan on using the donations for travel expenses between Calgary and Lethbridge and to make Broc’s recovery as comfortable as possible.
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