It's been a challenging 11-months for the family of Mario Silva, who passed away last June after battling cancer, but they are doing what they can to ensure others don't have to experience the pain of losing a loved one to the disease.
Mario's Angels, led by Mario's wife Jen Silva, will be participating in Prince Rupert's Relay for Life for the first time this year and are looking forward to raising money for the Canadian Cancer Society.
"I just want to help with finding a cure, and help other families so they don't have to go through what we did," Jen said.
Mario owned and operated MS Contracting, working in Prince Rupert and surrounding communities for 23 years on an abundance of commercial and residential projects. Jen said Mario was a dedicated man who was very proud of his work.
Those close to Mario remember him for his dedication to his business. During Mario's service, Frank Pyde, one of the family's closest friends and Mario's Angel team member, said "this town is held together with concrete made by Mario", a statement Jen agrees with.
"There's a little bit of him all over town," she said.
The Silva's were a tight-knit family, and were bewildered when Mario was unexpectedly diagnosed with stomach cancer in July of 2009.
"It was the hugest shock. It wasn't something we were expecting. He didn't have any pain, or anything. He just started not feeling well. We thought it was just stress or something," his wife said.
The news was also hard on the couple's three children, eldest daughter Kalila, middle child Stephanie and youngest Joel, who is only 10 years old.
"[Joel] knew daddy was sick, but didn't know the extent of it. The girls are older and they knew what could happen," Jen said.
When Mario was diagnosed he was told he would immediately need to have surgery or he would only have a couple months left to live.
Mario fought the disease in every way he could, going through chemotherapy, radiation and two surgeries. He was cancer-free for about six months, however doctors did advise the family the cancer was likely to come back.
"Because he didn't have symptoms before they found it, it was already quite advanced. It was stage four when they found it. They removed his stomach, and part of his bowels because it had spread quite a bit already. Eventually it did come back in his liver and just took over after that," Jen explained.
Mario reentered the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital on May 6, 2012, where he would stay until his passing.
"He should've been in the hospital before that, but he knew that once he went in he wasn't going to come out again. He was told that he probably had about a week or two weeks left," Jen said.
But Jen said Mario didn't accept that time frame, and swore he was going to live to his 46th birthday on June 7.
"Those six and a half weeks or so we were in the hospital watching him disappearing into nothing and suffering was hard. I wouldn't wish that on my biggest enemy," Jen said.
Mario's condition continued to get worse, to the point where he didn't even recognize his own children anymore.
"I think that was the turning point for Joel. He use to go every day after school and walk in his room and say 'hey dad' and talk to him. One day he walked in and said 'hi dad' and [Mario] just looked at him and said 'who are you?'... Joel looked at me and said 'he doesn't know me, mom'... He didn't want to go back after that," Jen said.
Shortly after Mario was put into an induced coma, and on the eve of his 46th birthday, family members and friends piled into his room at the hospital, and filled it with balloons.
"They all stayed at the hospital until midnight, and the nurses all came in his room and we sang 'Happy Birthday' to him... The nurses told me they could tell his breathing had changed... He knew we were there," Jen said.
Two days later, on June 9, 2012, Mario passed away.
"It's hard, not just losing a member of your family but watching that person die. Going through all of the fighting and watching them lose the battle," Jen said.
The Silva's continue to move forward, taking the loss one day at a time. Jen knows see won't be able to change what happened to Mario, but she now works toward helping change the fate of other cancer victims.
Since her husband's passing, Jen began volunteering for the Prince Rupert unit of the Canadian Cancer Society, helping out with various fundraising initiatives the group puts on in Prince Rupert. For her first year as captain for a Relay for Life team, Jen set a team fundraising goal of $1,000, which she hopes they can surpass. Mario's Angels are well on their way, having raised $800 as of late last week.
Jen said the team decided on the name "Mario's Angels" because her husband referred to the nurses at the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital as his angels. Jen gave an example of one time when a nurse came in to give Mario another shot, and apologized saying "I know you're in pain and I'm making you suffer more". Mario told the nurse they were his angels, and she then told him she wished there was more they could do to help him. Mario responded "I don't know what else you could do. You have done everything and more".
"The nurses, Judy and Jennifer, at the hospital are amazing. If I need to talk, I just have to pick up the phone and they're there," she said.
Confirmed team members as of last Friday consisted of Jen and Kalila, Paula and Sandra Cardoso, Maria Woodworth, Frank and Cynthia Pyde and Marissa Pereira.
Although Stephanie cannot make the relay, as she now lives in Penticton, she will be assisting in raising money for the team.
Prince Rupert's Relay for Life will take place on Saturday, June 1 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the Prince Rupert Middle School track.
Jen and the rest of Mario's Angels hope this year's event is a great success, and raises a lot of money for the Canadian Cancer Society. Anyone can participate in the relay for a $20 registration fee.
Anyone interested in donating to Mario's Angels, or any of the other Prince Rupert relay teams can do so at the website, www.relaybc.ca.