Great Story About Lui

[Zarquon]

Great story about Lui posted by Kelownabomberfan on ourbombers.com

I haven't been posting much lately as our family has been going through some tough times. My father in law went in Sept 24th for a much needed liver transplant in Vancouver, after suffering from a hereditary degenerating liver condition for many years. He made it through the surgery okay, but he was having a tough time of it mentally and so to pick up his spirits, on a whim, I emailed Lui Passaglia from the BC Lions website to see if he could come by for a quick visit, not really expecting a reply. My father in law has been a BC Lions fan since inception and Lui is his favorite player of all time.

Not only did Lui reply to my email almost immediately, he came out the next day, surprising my father in law who didn't know he was coming. They chatted about the old days and all the big victories the Lions had over the years, of course every one of them remembered by my Father in Law in vivid detail. Lui even promised to bring him on the field for warm-ups for the game against the Stamps on Nov 3rd. Man - what a huge spirit lift that gave my father in law. It was all he talked about for the past few weeks.

Last Wednesday, my father in law had severe complications from his surgery and despite huge odds he pulled through and is currently in ICU in Vancouver. He regained consciousness on Friday afternoon, and one of the first things he did when he came to was request a radio be brought into ICU so he could listen to the Lions - Hamilton game. Can you believe that.

My mother-in-law emailed Lui on the weekend to let him know about the set-back and that there was no way they'd make it to the game on November 3rd, and to thank him for his visit and his kind offer. Today, Lui showed up at the ICU with a signed football for my father in law, and wanted to go in to see him, unfortunately its family only, so he couldn't go in. This was on Lui's own time. No one asked him to come. My wife brought the ball in to the ICU and told my father in law that Lui had been there to see him. I don't think there is any drug in the world powerful enough to match the positive effects that news had on my father in law.

He's no where near out of the woods yet but I tell you, if it weren't for Lui I don't know where we'd be. There's still a long road to recovery ahead and I know we can count on Lui to visit repeatedly now that he knows what a huge influence he is on my father in law. There are no words to thank him for what he has done for us.

One final note - I think there is still a huge misunderstanding between the politicians and the mainstream media regarding how important the CFL is to millions of Canadians. Due to their focus only on dollars and cents, vote-grabbing, and on how their columns will be perceived by their friends at cocktail parties, they miss just what these teams, this game, and these players, really mean to a big portion of our population, and too often dismiss plans like building new stadiums to ensure survival of the CFL as "unnecessary". This isn't just a game. This is a big part of what brings joy to a lot of peoples' lives, and in some extreme fan cases like my father in law, the thrill of the CFL experience gives them one more reason to fight to live when the odds are against them.

We should be fighting to protect this game - nurture it even - and give it everything it needs to survive. If we don't, we won't realize what we've truly lost until its gone, and then it will be too late.

Thanks - something in me just had to get this story out.

[almo89]

Great story!

[Dan_Payne_fan!!]

what a story. thanks for sharing!

[The Pez]

Good stuff Luuuuuuuuuuuuuu

[Ballistic Bob]

Loooo is family. BB

[No Ordinary Joe]

Gotta luv Lui!

[hoonsagain]

Nice story. Thanks Lui.....what a great guy!!

hoons

[TheLionKing]

Lui is class personified.

[B.C.FAN]

Wonderful. Thanks, Lui.

[nelson95]

A big cheer out for organ-donors as well

[Reider]

Great Story! A true professional and genuine person.

[No Ordinary Joe]

It'll be a shame when Lui leaves the Lions after this season. It just won't be the same without him involved in some capacity.

[Dan Russell]

The real story is that we have never heard a bad Lui story.

[sj-roc]

This story was the subject of a Kent Gilchrist article in today's Province; seems he discovered the tip on here and/or ourbombers.

One gets the impression that Lui wasn't acting in his formal Community Relations capacity for his part in this; it seems he would have done the same even had he already cut his official ties to the Lions and returned to private life.

Best wishes to the Fairbrother and Redekop families.