Tragedy strikes Canucks star Brock Boeser

Earlier this week Vancouver Canucks sniper posted a heartbreaking message on his Instagram, asking for fans to send thoughts and prayers his way as his father deals with a terminal bout of lung cancer.

Here’s Boeser’s post:

You may recall that Boeser’s father, Duke, had been diagnosed with lung cancer back in 2017, but now the disease has metastasized to his liver and his bones. On Monday, a blood clot in a lung triggered heart failure. Duke was taken to hospital in Minnesota and is currently in intensive care.

“They are cooling his body to let his heart and brain heal,” Laurie Boeser, Duke’s wife and Brock’s mother, said on Monday. “Still not out of the woods for the next 48 hours, considered critical. We are currently waiting to hear what is next.”

To call Duke an fighter would be the understatement of the century. Not only is he battling cancer for the second time, but he was also diagnosed with Parkin’s disease at just 49 years old, when Boeser was in seventh grade.

Two years after the Parkinson’s diagnosis, Duke broke his pelvis in three places, suffered a lacerated spleen, as well as a further brain injury when he was involved in a horrific car crash.

Due to his illness, Duke was unable to work and it was up to Laurie to support the family. She picked up work wherever she could, working in administration for an orthopedics company, and as a server at an Outback Steakhouse. Of course, now that he's an NHL star it's Brock who supports the family.

It’s been a long, tough road for the Boeser family when it comes to health, so please send your thoughts and prayers along.

To lighten the mood, check out Duke’s reaction to reading out his son’s name during Boeser’s NHL debut back in 2017: