Hello everyone,
My name is Jasmine Carbery and I am setting up this fundraiser on behalf of my dad, Jordan Carbery. My father is a fighter and a survivor, as he’s proved again and again during my life. Over the last two decades, Jordan has survived open brain surgery to remove a brain tumour, a Grizzly Bear attack, and most recently another brain surgery to remove a vascular malformation. The goal of this Go-Fund-Me is to help cover some of his recovery expenses, redo our bathroom for the removal of toxic mold, and to put in a more accessible shower. Please consider supporting my dad in his recovery process. Know that you will be helping an incredible father who has fought valiantly for his life three times, and survived to live a life that helps and educates others in the very arena that could have ended his life. We would love for my dad to be able to return home from the hospital as soon as possible so he can heal comfortably with his family.
The next few paragraphs go into more details about my father and his extraordinary journey.
Jordan Carbery is a biologist and he has always been deeply interested in the outdoors and all things flora and fauna. Up until very recently, he has been working out of Bella Coola, British Columbia, as a park ranger. My dad loves this job because he can help preserve the beautiful wilderness and his opportunities to work and build friendships with the Nuxalk Nation and many other wonderful First Nations communities along the coast. Jordan is also a wildlife photographer. His job provides him with many opportunities to capture photos of the wildlife he loves so much in order to share it with others.
In 2000, my father was first diagnosed with a brain tumour. He had been working away from home, camping in the bush and when his week-long shift ended he came home and felt more and more off. He described having double vision, headaches, eye strain, feeling faint, etc. After many scans and tests it was determined that he needed to have brain surgery to remove a tumour. This was an incredibly stressful time for my family, but after 14 hours of brain surgery and months of waiting and worrying, my dad was able to come home. We thought that was going to be the end of that, however our story full of medical challenges and miracles continued.
During the summer of 2018, before leaving his cabin for work, my dad was attacked and mauled by a Grizzly Bear, and subsequently lost an ear. I have included some links to articles about this miraculous survival story below if you are interested in reading them. He was airlifted hours away to Vancouver where he had surgery, stitches, scans and other medical procedures. After his recovery, he was insistent that he wanted to get back to work to raise awareness about bears, and promote safety and appreciation of the animals. Despite this traumatic event my dad has continued to encourage and inspire people to love, protect, and appreciate nature.
Due to his initial brain surgery my dad had to have a shunt put in to remove pressure and excess fluids from his brain caused by hydrocephalus. During the bear attack the shunt was disturbed and because of this the doctors requested that my dad come in for scans every few months. Recently, after a routine scan following the Grizzly Bear attack a new shadow was detected in the same area of his brain as the initial tumour. The doctors were concerned that it may be a new type of tumour caused by the radiation therapy after the initial tumour. On August 30th, 2021 my dad went to Vancouver General Hospital and underwent a 6 hour open brain surgery, and the medical team was able to remove most of the malformation. Originally, it was estimated that my father would be out of the hospital by September 7th, 2021. Unfortunately, after the surgery Jordan had a seizure and had paralysis on the left side of his body. Our family was told that there was no guarantee that the paralysis would dissipate or that his long term memories would be intact. Luckily he is making a lot of progress in both of those areas so far.
Currently, my dad is still in the hospital as he needs intensive cognitive therapy and physiotherapy. My mother and I have been taking turns commuting 4+ hours a day to and from the hospital, and seeing how much my dad has progressed has been super positive for our family. Thankfully, my dad has been surrounded by a wonderful team of medical professionals and we are very grateful for all of the amazing work that they do. It would be amazing to be able to have our bathroom redone to be more accessible and accommodating to his current circumstances. Unfortunately, there is mold growing in our bathroom walls and there is much more work that needs to be done than we had first anticipated. We just want my dad’s transition from the hospital to home to be as smooth and positive as possible, but we have a lot of work ahead of us.
Please consider sharing, liking, donating or expressing any words of kindness. Any support will help my dad and help his transitions home to our family and contribute to a healthier home environment that will aid in his journey to recovery. My family immensely appreciates each and every person that has shown us warmth and kindness in whatever ways they could in the past, present, and future.
Thank you all so much!
(My dad and I on Denny Island near Bella Bella for the Big House opening, 2018)
Here are some articles about my dad and his fight with cancer, as well as with a Grizzly Bear. I’ve chosen to included this to show you how resilient and passionate of a person he is.
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/mobile/i-chose-to-fight-to-live-park-ranger-shares-gruesome-details-of-grizzly-bear-attack-1.4005617
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.coastmountainnews.com/news/brain-cancer-survivor-shares-story-of-hope-during-cancer-awareness-month/amp/
Organizer
Jasmine Carbery
Organizer
Cawston, BC