Achi news desk-
Gabriel Tibert makes a living saving others — but now the Montreal firefighter is in a fight for his own life.
Tibert, 39, was diagnosed in February with stage 4 glioblastoma, a fast-growing and aggressive form of brain cancer.
“I didn’t know how to tell my family, especially my two children,” he said. “Emotionally, I felt paralyzed at first, like I was hearing someone else’s story.”
Telling his family and colleagues at the Parc-Extension fire station was gut-wrenching for everyone.
Fellow firefighter Alex Heir said he was devastated by the news.
“We knew something was wrong because he had a seizure two weeks before,” he said.
To process it all, Khair went for a run and started thinking of ways he could help his friend.
“Of all the things this could mean in the future for Gabriel, there was one thing I thought while I was running. I thought, ‘He’s not going to be able to run his marathon that he talked to me about two years ago,'” he said.
Khair decided to run the Montreal Marathon in his honor. It takes place in September, and he has recruited other firefighters to join him.
Kheir also initiated a fundraiser with the McGill University Health Foundation (MUHC) in Thibert’s name to further the research.
Glioblastoma is a difficult cancer to treat and has one of the lowest survival rates.
Montreal firefighter Gabriel Thibert with his family. Tibert, 39, suffers from glioblastoma.“For the most part, we don’t know the cause, and because we don’t know the cause, it’s very difficult to know how we can prevent it,” said Dr. Ryan Toys, chief scientific officer of the MUHC Research Institute.
It affects four out of 100,000 people in Canada and accounts for up to 15% of all brain tumors.
Toys said more research is needed to help develop potential treatments.
“Why some people do better and why some people don’t. For example, we know that only five percent of patients with glioblastoma will have a five-year survival,” he said.
Through it all, Khair said he admired his friend’s courage.
“He was the strongest of all of us throughout this whole thing,” he said.
With about 50 firefighters across Quebec already signed up to run, Thibert said he was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support.
“I’m lucky to have friends like that,” he said. “It’s like a second family to me.”
So far, more than $10,000 has been raised in Tibert’s name.
