BC Cancer - Partners in Discovery - Spring 2018 - 5

WHY I GIVE

Gordon Heys, announcing
his support for PET/CT.

An Inspired Act
Gordon Heys gives more than $2 million to help bring
Vancouver Island the most advanced diagnostic and
treatment planning tool available

I

t was a photo that would inspire
Gordon Heys to make a historic
gift to families facing cancer on
Vancouver Island.
That photo-of Trevor Deeley and
his wife, Joyce-is located at the BC
Cancer Victoria Centre, where Gordon
received treatment for cancer just last
year. And now, thanks to his generous
gift of just over $2 million, it will be
the home of Vancouver Island's first
PET/CT scanner.
"That picture was very moving for
me," says Gordon, who saw the photograph of his mentor while wandering
the centre after his treatments.
"A person is lucky in their life to
meet someone who takes the time
and provides a positive influence, and
Trevor Deeley was one of those people
for me."
Trevor, whose name dons the Trev
& Joyce Deeley Research Centre, was

a friend of Gordon's. The two met one
summer in Indian Arm, when Gordon
was a teenager, and shared a strong
bond. Trevor died in 2002, a year after
his wife, Joyce, died of ovarian cancer;
the couple gave more than $5 million
to the BC Cancer Foundation.
Now, like Trevor, Gordon's donation
will help transform cancer care for
families in need across the Island.
The pivotal gift-among the largest
Vancouver Island has ever seen-culminates the BC Cancer Foundation's

$5 million campaign to bring a PET/CT
scanner to the Vancouver Island Centre.
The scanner is the most advanced
diagnostic and treatment planning
tool available today and will dramatically improve outcomes for the 5,000
patients who are projected to face cancer each year across the Island.
For Gordon, it's a special way of
recognizing the care that he received
while facing cancer this past year-a
shocking diagnosis that was followed
by months of radiation therapy.
"While receiving my radiation
treatment, I was very impressed by
the hardworking people dedicated to
improving the outcome and enhancing
the experience of patients with cancer
here on the Island," says Gordon, a
Nanaimo-based businessman.
It's also his way of giving back to
the people across Vancouver Island
who have supported him and his family since they moved to Nanaimo from
Vancouver in 1980, he adds.
"Cancer is something that almost
half of all people will have to face in
their lives, so to all those people and
the special friends in my life who have
been affected by cancer, I make this gift
with pride, humility and as a tribute to
my wonderful family," Gordon says.
"I hope my gift helps in the effort to
put an end to cancer."

YOU CAN HELP, TOO
We've ofﬁcially completed the Vancouver Island PET/CT
fundraising and are halfway to our $5 million goal for
Kelowna. A gift today will help bring this critical diagnostic
tool closer to home for people living in the Interior. Visit
bccancerfoundation.com/PET.
BCCANCERFOUNDATION.COM

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http://www.bccancerfoundation.com/PET http://www.BCCANCERFOUNDATION.COM
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of BC Cancer - Partners in Discovery - Spring 2018
