Langley Township Mayor Rick Green has issued a statement about the illness of his daughter, Shannon.
The statement was handed out at the start of Monday’s council meeting. Green did not attend the meeting, as he was with his wife and their daughter. Deputy mayor Bob Long presided at the meeting.
“I am issuing this press release (with the permission of my daughter) for three very important reasons to me and my wife Carol personally, 1) To correct some misinformation circulating in the public, 2) to express our deepest heartfelt thanks to so many citizens in the Township of Langley who have offered their help, support and their prayers, and 3) to encourage anyone dealing with such a personal tragedy to be strong, always seek a second opinion and never lose hope.
“Our daughter Shannon is 39 years old, and six and one-half months pregnant with her first child. She was having trouble with numbness in her limbs, doctors figured it was the baby pressing on a nerve. A week ago last Friday (June 10) Shannon and her husband Brad were over in North Vancouver for a chiropractic appointment but it was getting worse.
“They went to Lions Gate Emergency, (Shannon was) given an MRI and was diagnosed with two malignant brain tumors. The neurosurgeon told us that there was nothing they could do for her but relieve the pressure on the brain. We discussed the possibility, a last resort to save one of them, of putting her on life support for a few weeks for the baby’s growth.
“On the advice of specialists at Lions Gate, we transferred her to Royal Columbian by emergency ambulance at 8 p.m. last Saturday night. The top neurosurgeon in the province operated on her and told the family he could not do much for her but relieve the pressure and she would probably come out with a deficit, i.e. loss of speech or something.
“She was operated on at 8 a.m. on Sunday. At noon Sunday we received a call that our daughter was resting comfortably, the baby was fine and the tumours were removed. At this moment she is bright, bubbly, with feeling back in all her limbs as well as speaking and her thought process is normal.
“A miracle has happened as far as we are concerned to this point. We have gone from losing our daughter to her being back in our lives. Having said that, Shannon, the baby and our family have a long road ahead. We do not know what is ahead of us.
“By going public with our personal tragedy we want to again reinforce the need to not lose hope, be strong and seek other opinions. There are no guarantees, but there is room for optimism and hope.
“Again, thank you to all who have supported us,” the statement concludes. It is signed by the mayor and his wife Carol.
Green was at Tuesday’s Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce meeting to help install the new officers and directors. He told the audience that he had just heard from his family, during the meeting, that the tests on his daughter had been concluded. She was pronounced cancer-free.
That prompted a warm ovation from the crowd.
