Facebook Post Saves Man’s Life
ST. LOUIS — A Facebook post is being credited with saving a man’s life. After Tim Clancy failed to show up for work, his supervisor called him — but received no answer. Eric Bequette continued to call throughout the day, but when he couldn’t reach Clancy, Bequette turned to Facebook.
Bequette told FOX 2 he searched Clancy’s friends list and found one of his five siblings. He sent a message expressing his concern.
They didn’t know it then, but Clancy had suffered a seizure caused by an undiagnosed malignant brain tumor and had collapsed at home. The tumor was about the size of a fist. Doctors said had he been left alone for one more day, Clancy probably would have died. That was on Dec. 16, 2011.
Shortly after, Washington University neurosurgeon Eric Leuthardt went about the task of removing the brain tumor, using a technique he has been helping perfect called “brain mapping.” Using electrodes attached to the brain through a flexible micro-grid invented by Dr. Leuthardt, surgeons can detect which parts of the brain control various functions.
Clancy’s surgery took seven hours and required him to be awake for a part of it. Doctors couldn’t remove the entire tumor because it was attached to the part of his brain that controls his speech. To treat the remaining tumor Clancy had to undergo radiation and chemotherapy.
On April 17, Clancy had his final dose of radiation. On April 20, he went back to work. The most recent MRI revealed the tumor had shrunk to the a microscopic size. Clancy hopes a second round of chemotherapy will eliminate it entirely.
“Life doesn’t get easier, you just get stronger,” he said.
