Friends of a Port Coquitlam, B.C. man battling brain cancer are hosting a poker tournament to help raise money to cover the cost of his treatment.
Kevin Ballard is fighting the illness for the second time since being diagnosed in 2014.
"I was told that it was aggressive, stage 3 brain cancer and essentially given an average lifespan of three to four years," Ballard told CTV News Friday.
The first time around, radiation and chemotherapy sent Ballard's cancer into remission. But another tumour was found this spring.
Ballard isn't able to work and didn't qualify for long-term disability because of a pre-existing condition: his first cancer diagnosis. His wife is working part-time to help care for him.
"My medical EI runs up in December, after that, that's what we're running on until I can work again, which we don't know when that will be," he said.
His doctor has said the chemotherapy he's receiving is shrinking the tumour, but that he'll likely need the treatment until April.
That's what inspired his friends to launch two fundraisers – an online campaign and a poker tournament – meant to help raise up to $35,000. Those who attend the tournament will be playing for donated prizes, and all monetary donations collected will go to Ballard.
And once the planning began, the group of friends quickly found others willing to help out.
"You just can't imagine the amount of people that have come and donated and given us prizes… This tent was donated to us to use, the lights were put up by another guy," Ballard's friend Lu Dimeglio told CTV.
"We wish we could do more, but when lots of people do a little bit, it makes a really big difference," friend Ben Woodman said.
Ballard said he's amazed by the support he's received.
"I've never once felt that I wasn't blessed, and I'm so thankful that I get to go through this journey. I'm so thankful that I have the friends and family I have."
With a report from CTV Vancouver's Maria Weisgarber
