Hockey fan who spotted Vancouver Canucks staffer's cancerous mole given $10,000 medical school scholarship

A woman who alerted a hockey staffer to a suspicious mole on his neck has been given a medical school scholarship to say thank you for saving for his life.

Nadia Popovici was in the stands behind the Vancouver Canuck's assistant equipment manager, Brian Hamilton, to watch their game against the Seattle Kraken back in October when she spotted the mole.

The hockey fan, who is preparing to study at medical school, alerted Mr Hamilton to the growth by writing a message on her phone and pressing it against the glass that separates supporters and team members.

As a result, he got a doctor to take a look at the mole, which was subsequently removed and found to be cancerous.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 2:08 A woman who alerted a hockey staffer to a suspicious mole on his neck has been given a medical school scholarship.

"She extended my life... she saved my life," Mr Hamilton said.

"The words out of the doctor's mouth were if I ignored that for four to five years I wouldn't be here.

"How she saw it boggles my mind. It wasn't very big, I wear a jacket, I wear a radio on the back of my jacket... she's a hero."

After acting on Ms Popovici's advice, Mr Hamilton wanted to say thank you but did not know her name so set up a social media appeal to track her down.

The team tweeted that they wanted to find the fan before they returned to play Seattle at Climate Pledge Arena on 1 January and within a couple of hours had succeeded.

Image: Nadia Popovici displays the message she gave to Mr Hamilton. Pic: AP

"The message you showed me on your cell phone will forever be etched into my brain and has made a true life-changing difference for me and my family," Mr Hamilton wrote in the appeal.

"Your instincts were right and the mole on the back of my neck was a malignant melanoma and thanks to your persistence and the quick work of our doctors, it is now gone."

The pair were reunited at the National Hockey League game, where Ms Popovici told him: "I was so nervous to bring it up so I tried to catch you at a moment where there weren't a lot of people around. I'm so glad you saw."

It was later announced that both teams had joined forces to award Ms Popovici a $10,000 (£7,392) scholarship for medical school.

Speaking to Sky News, Ms Popovici said that the praise for her actions was surreal.

"He was actually located across from me for the entire game, so he wasn't even in front of me for most of the game," she explained.

"But he happened to walk in front a couple of times and during one of those times he reached for something and the lapel of his jacket fell down a little. I was standing right behind him at the time and I noticed a dark spot.

"I was curious and I leaned up close to the glass to take a better look and I noticed that it was discoloured, it had irregular borders, it was pretty large and raised and I knew those - just coming from a little bit of a medical background - that those were possible indicators of skin cancer and that he should likely be seeing a doctor," she said.

But she faced a challenge in alerting him: "You can't speak through the glass."

"So I thought if that was my family member up there I would want someone to say something and the one way that I can say something is through text, through my phone, so I pulled out my notes app and quickly typed in: 'The mole on the back of your neck is possibly cancerous. Please go see a doctor!'

"I put my phone up to the glass and knocked really loud and he took a look - and it was in the back of his mind - and I'm just so happy it turned out in the best possible way," she said.

Mr Hamilton initially "kind of shrugged and walked away" she recalled.

"After that moment I kind of regretted it. I thought, you know, that was inappropriate it, I shouldn't have brought it up, maybe he already knows about it and it's a sensitive topic.

"To not know for so many months what happened to this man and to finally put a name to the face and a story, it's been incredible and truly life-changing," she added.