Supporting Stan Hunc
On September 2nd while on a family trip back home to Europe with his daughter Kate, Stan Hunc suffered sudden, life-threatening heart failure caused by the rupture of one of his heart valves.
While Stan's condition was initially thought to be pneumonia, he has undergone emergency open-heart surgery and has suffered a number of complications since. He's had to remain in the Intensive Care Unit and on a ventilator in Vienna, Austria.
He is currently fighting a viral infection that has spread to his brain and that generally carries very grave consequences. 
Basia, Stan's wife, is with him now in Vienna, and his daughter Kate and son Michael are home managing their affairs in Vancouver and Surrey.
The family is now waiting to see how Stan pulls through the infection and how much functional status he regains. That remains uncertain right now, and it might not be much.
The one thing they know for sure is that it will be a long road to any kind of recovery. Much of it will continue to be far from home, friends, and family.
It's a scary, sad, and worrisome time for everyone. Stan and Basia rely on Stan's income teaching art, a job he loves but which does not provide him with benefits to rely on. He works as a contract faculty member in the continuing studies program at Emily Carr University of Art + Design, and as an art teacher at Place des Arts, where he teaches art to children.
With Stan unable to work and no certain knowledge of when, how, or if he may be able to return home and work, the family is struggling to move through the current crisis. Accommodations in Vienna, even the most basic, are very expensive. Basia estimates that she will need to stay there for weeks with Stan, but as time passes it will become increasingly difficult to afford to do so.
Stan has no benefits from his employment to support him. Basia, Kate, and Michael are a very small family who immigrated to Canada from Poland in the 1980s. They do not have a lot of extended help to draw upon.
The family needs help with supporting Basia while in Vienna and with paying bills over the next few months as Stan moves towards recovery.
Asking for financial support in this way is not something that comes easily for most of us, least of all this family; this, however, is a very pressing time of crisis. Stan is a compassionate, kind-hearted man with a wonderful sense of humour. He loves teaching, playing badminton, heartfelt conversation, and spending time with his friends and loved ones—especially Basia, Kate, and Michael.
If you're able, please help Stan and his family stay afloat through these tough weeks.
The family acknowledges that support comes in many forms; whatever people are able to give is, to them, a great gift. Your generosity means so much.
