The heartwarming story of 22-year-old Seattle Kraken fan Nadia Popovic and Vancouver Canucks assistant equipment manager Brian āRedā Hamilton has made it to late night.Ā
As in, Late Night with Seth Meyers.Ā
Ā In his segment The Kind of Story We Need Right Now, Meyers highlighted the miraculous story of how Popovici somehow spotted a cancerous mole on the back of the neck of Hamilton during a Canucks-Kraken game on October 23, which he credits with saving his life. Ā
“It’s nearly impossible to get good medical care in America, and Nadia’s at a hockey game, just giving it away for free. She doesn’t have to do that,” Meyers joked in the segment.Ā
“Also, do you know how focused you have to be to spot something as tiny as a weird mole in an arena full of drunk people watching a series of fistfights between people with razors strapped to their feet? A hockey game is a health professional’s nightmare.”
Hamilton and Popovici met before the New Yearās Day rematch between the Canucks and Kraken in Seattle after an internet search to identify Popovici went viral. The Canucks and Kraken rewarded Popovici, who is going into medical school, with a $10,000 scholarship.Ā
The internet community helped us find Brian's hero, Nadia, and tonight they met in person where he got to express his sincerest thank you to her for saving his life.
A story of human compassion at its finest. pic.twitter.com/66ogo5hB1a
— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) January 2, 2022
The story has made worldwide news.
In Canada, the pair was interviewed for a story on The National on CBC. Nadia and Red were interviewed on the NBC Nightly News with Lester HoltĀ as well as CNNās New Day morning show in the United States.
They have also appearedĀ on ABCās Good Morning America,Ā NBCās Today, and CBS Evening News.
Websites like theĀ BBC,Ā The Guardian, and theĀ Daily MirrorĀ in the UK, andĀ The New York TimesĀ in the United States have also featured the incredible story.
The story has also been shared in Spain, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Nigeria, Iran, India, Russia, Taiwan, Japan, and Australia, among other countries.