Brian is 48 years old. He’s been married for 16 years to our cousin Che/Maria, raised 5 awesome children and have almost 6 beautiful grandchildren (6th due in February!). The dreadful day was July 14, 2018 when Brian had a seizure and was later diagnosed with brain cancer (specifically, Anaplastic astrocytoma). He quickly had the tumour removed, then completed a course of radiation and then chemo and thankfully he was going to be ok. Brian continued living his life, feeling positive, working, raising his family, trying his best to enjoy life.

 

Then in Dec 2020, not even 2 and a half years later, we received the devastating news we weren’t prepared for, the tumour had returned, but had now progressed to grade 4 Glioblastoma. Glioblastoma is a type of brain cancer. It’s the most common type of malignant brain tumour among adults. And it is usually very aggressive, which means it can grow fast and spread quickly. The average life expectancy is 12-18 months - only 25% of glioblastoma patients survive more than one year, and only 5% of patients survive more than five years. This news completely shocked our family. We had some hope however, as he was eligible for a second surgery and went in right away. He completed the surgery successfully, had another round of radiation and chemo and thankfully again he was doing well. He continued with a regime of chemo once every 6 weeks and while we knew Brian’s condition was fragile, we had truly hoped for more time.

 

A few weeks ago, we were devastated again when suddenly Brian was hit with multiple seizures and hospitalized. The aggressive tumour grew 40% in such a short time. He was given 4 months left to live. This news completely destroyed our hope that Brian would at the very least have a few more years to make memories with our family.

Against her wishes, I was able to convince Maria (Che) to let us create this GoFundMe because she and Brian have always been there for everyone else and it is now our turn to help contribute in any way we can. She wouldn’t let me do it the first two times he had surgery – but now she has no choice!!! : )

 

After getting multiple opinions, it seems there is a medication and that could help prolong Brian’s life by a few months. It is unfortunately a very expensive treatment that is not covered by insurance. At this point we are willing to do anything to help Brian spend as much time with his children, family and friends as possible. We also want to help Che and the kids moving forward.

We would also like to help Brian fulfill his personal wishes of things he has always wants to do. We have added his wish list below so that we can all participate in his experiences together to allow Brian to live his life to the fullest with the precious time he has. As Brian's family (and he considers his friends as family), we are coming together and see what we can do to make his wishes come true - if you know someone, who knows someone, who knows his favourite celebs please let us know ASAP!! : )) (Come on celeb-elbow-rubbing cousins who live in LA - work it out!!)

 

We have created this GoFundMe to help support Brian and the family to cover medical and treatments costs, cover their loss of income, his wish list and for the legacy of his children. We are thankful for ANY and ALL support you may be able to give, any fundraisers you may want to create on behalf of Brian, and we would like to ask you to please create and post a personal message to Brian that include memories, funny stories of the “Fugitive”, stories from back in the day, old photos and words of support.

 

On behalf of The MacDonalds, our family and friends, we are truly grateful for your help.

- Cynthia & Jody (The cousins)

 

BRIAN'S WISH LIST:

• Travel to Philippines 

• Travel to LA and go to Disneyland 

• Visit family in the USA

• Revisit National Park in Bahamas and Hope Town
• See the Van Gogh Exhibit 
• Find a place that makes good Conch fritter

• Find a good Kamayan Filipino restaurant that doesn't use banana leaf (he is allergic to banana lol!)
• Go Fishing
• Meet stars like Michael Jordan, Tia Carrere, Jennifer Garner, and LL Cool J just to name a few..

• Take my wife to St Anne's Spa 

• Get a new tattoo- DONE ✔

• ***BE ABLE TO SPEND TIME WITH AS MANY FAMILY AND FRIENDS AS POSSIBLE!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

P