Fundraiser for Chopper Masales passes key figure, but much more needed
Credit to Author: Matt Robinson| Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2019 01:06:17 +0000
It was while driving earlier this month that Estelize Masales received a phone call that relieved her so much that it gave her a headache.
The massive, continuing fundraiser for her husband, Ryan (Chopper) Masales, had surpassed a meaningful figure: $93,000. That was the amount of money a brain tumour centre in Phoenix, Ariz., required to get started on preliminary work toward a course of experimental treatment that could save Ryan’s life.
“It was a great day. It was a great moment,” Estelize said Monday.
But Estelize’s jubilation had its bounds, as $93,000 was far shy of the $200,000 needed to cover the out-of-country treatment of Ryan’s glioblastoma multiforme — the same terminal brain cancer that killed Canadian singer-songwriter Gord Downie and U.S. Sen. John McCain.
When Ryan was diagnosed with the aggressive disease he was given one year to live. That was more than three years and 60 chemotherapy treatments ago. But his tumour is still growing. Ryan has hit the end of his treatment options in Canada, and B.C.’s provincial health insurance doesn’t cover out-of-country treatment that is still in the research phase.
For the Masales family, giving up and letting the cancer take over isn’t an option. They and a small army of helpers have created web pages and videos, arranged a silent auction and planned events to raise enough money to get Ryan his treatment. On the same day Estelize received in the mail the Health Ministry’s official refusal to pay for the Phoenix treatment, she also received a $50 bill, sent anonymously.
“No matter what it takes, we are getting this done,” Estelize said. “Whatever it takes we will get Ryan down there.”
For now, Ryan is at home in Abbotsford. He has lost his peripheral vision and his sight in one eye. When speaking, Ryan also loses his words sometimes. When that happens, Estelize tends to jump in and help out.
“My right eye is a problem with me right now. Other than that I feel good for my body,” Ryan said. “It’s just more of my eye (being) able to see things is a problem.”
Ryan said he’ll now walk down the street and bump into things because he’s not used to having limited vision: “There’s nothing really I can do. Hopefully it can get better.”
Estelize said the chemotherapy sessions have left him feeling quite tired.
After his diagnosis, Ryan got a tattoo on his forearm. It’s based on a photo Estelize took during a family trip to Mexico and it depicts Ryan and his now seven-year-old son Ryder walking hand-in-hand on a beach toward a setting sun.
“Until we meet again my son,” it reads.
Estelize explained that Ryan wanted the tattoo “so if anything happened he could take Ryder with him.”
Estelize and Ryan met as officers with the Vancouver police before they transferred to the Abbotsford police in 2010. Ryan has worked as a patrol officer, drug expert and undercover operator, among other things. It was while conducting surveillance in 2016 that he suffered a grand mal seizure.
Ryan’s gofundme page, at gofundme.com/f/fight-chopper, shows donations coming in from individuals, families and businesses, as well as police units and departments around B.C. As of Monday, more than $114,000 had been raised — still some $86,000 short of his goal.