Skip to content

The Lake Cowichan community steps in to help one of their own

Sue Head has been diagnosed with brain cancer
9124039_web1_171027-CCI-M-24860612_1508779977.711
Lake Cowichan’s Sue Head, left, has been diagnosed with a serious illness and is in a Victoria hospital. The community is rallying to help her family, daughter Melissa, top right, and husband Steve, bottom right, remain at her side. (Submitted photo)

A family from Lake Cowichan is facing a monumental health struggle, and the community is gathering to support them.

Sue Head, who, along with her husband Steve, runs a dog-boarding business in the community, has brain cancer and her diagnosis is not promising.

The problem only came to light a few weeks ago when Sue was experiencing headaches and dizzy spells.

She ended up in a Victoria hospital where she was found to have two brain tumours, the same type that recently took the life of Canadian poet and singer Gord Downie, which the doctors say will likely take her life as well in about a year.

Steve and the couple’s adult daughter Melissa, their only child, have not worked or moved from Sue’s bedside and have been staying in hotels in Victoria since their ordeal began, and friends in the community are now making efforts to help relieve some of their financial burden so they can focus solely on Sue.

Corrie Holtom, Melissa’s best friend, has begun a GoFundMe page, which can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/sue-head, that has raised more than $2,400 for the family so far, and she hopes the community will step up with much more.

Parm Birk and the Kin Clubs of Lake Cowichan are also hosting a beer and burger night, which will include a silent auction, at the Riverside Inn on Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. to raise money for the Head family to help them through their crisis.

Tickets are $25 each and are available at the Riverside Inn, or by contacting Birk at 250-709-1168, or by going to parmbirk@hotmail.com.

Melissa said her mom’s sudden illness has turned her, and her family’s lives, upside down.

“This has been very hard on my family in every possible way,” she said.

“Me and my dad are trying to figure out what to do about our jobs for the time being, but we don’t want to leave mom’s side.”

Holtom said the family’s bills are piling up fast.

“We don’t know what the future holds right now, but we do know that the time they have right now with Sue is precious and they need to be there,” she said.

“Please help us keep this family from worrying about the financial burden for a bit to be there with her.”



robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter