It was during one of Subha Gill’s regular hip-hop dance practices that she began to feel a pain in her leg.
Over the weeks, the pain got worse for the 20-year-old, and soon she was making regular trips to the emergency room and to different doctors with her mother, Jeevan Sohi, looking for an explanation for the unexplained pain.
“None of the doctors wanted to do tests,” Sohi said. “It was too expensive.”
When Sohi noticed swelling in her daughter’s hip, she took her to the AIM Medical Imaging in Vancouver where Gill was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer.
A recent course of chemotherapy has been unsuccessful and Gill’s family now wishes to pursue alternative treatments and needs to raise funds to offset the costs of medicine and travel.
Starting at 3 p.m. Friday (April 6) Colwood’s Island Centre of Excellence (ICE) hockey training facility (formerly Puckmasters) will be hosting a two-day fundraiser to help offset these costs. Gill’s brother Armaan trains at the centre.
There’ll be a 3-on-3 hockey tournament, silent auction, dunk tank, obstacle course, basketball hoops and field games all in the mix.
The silent auction will include paintings, gift certificates and baskets donated by local businesses and a rugby jersey signed by Canada’s national rugby union sevens team.
“It’s going to be an awesome event,” said co-organizer Jeff Carroll.
There will also be an Indian themed dinner on Friday night, followed later by pizza courtesy of Papa Ji’s and Great Canon and a pancake breakfast on Saturday morning.
“There have been so many people that have come out of nowhere to help us with this,” Sohi said. “I don’t know how to thank people.”
For more information on how to volunteer, donate items for the silent auction or any other aspect of this fundraiser call 250-590-7811 or see www.icevictoria.ca. ICE is located at 2657 Wilfert Rd.