Montreal firefighters raise funds for colleague with brain cancer

Gabriel Thibert makes a living saving others – but now the Montreal firefighter is fighting for his own life.

In February, Thibert, 39, was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma multiforme, a rapidly growing and aggressive form of brain cancer.

“I didn’t know how to tell my family, especially my two children,” he said. “Emotionally, at first I felt paralyzed, like I was listening to someone else’s story.”

Telling my family and colleagues at the Parc-Extension fire department was devastating for everyone.

Fellow firefighter Alex Kheir said he was devastated by the news.

“We knew something was wrong because he had a seizure two weeks earlier,” he said.

To digest all this, Kheir ran and began to think of ways he could help his friend.

“Of all the things this could mean for Gabriel in the future, there was one thing I thought about during the race. I thought, ‘He’s not going to be able to run the marathon he’s been telling me about for the last two years,’” he said.

Kheir decided to run the Montreal Marathon in his honor. It takes place in September and he has recruited other firefighters to join him.

Kheir also initiated a fundraiser in partnership with the McGill University Health Center (MUHC) Foundation on Thibert’s behalf to support research.

Glioblastoma multiforme is a difficult-to-treat cancer with one of the lowest survival rates.

Montreal firefighter Gabriel Thibert with his family. Thibert, 39, has glioblastoma multiforme.“We largely don’t know the cause, and because we don’t know the cause, it’s very difficult to know how we can prevent it,” said Dr. Rhian Touyz, chief scientist at the MUHC Research Institute.

In Canada, it affects four in 100,000 people and causes up to 15 per cent of all brain cancers.

Touyz said more research is needed to help develop potential treatments.

“Why do some people do better and some don’t? For example, we know that only five percent of patients with glioblastoma multiforme will survive five years,” he said.

Despite everything, Kheir said he admired his friend’s courage.

“He was the strongest of us all this time,” he said.

Thibert said he is touched by the outpouring of support, as about 50 firefighters from across Quebec have already signed up to participate.

“I’m lucky to have friends like these,” he said. “It’s like a second family to me.”

To date, over $10,000 has been raised in Thibert’s name.