Corner Brook man with ALS sees favourite team win cup live

CORNER BROOK — While a Newfoundlander was celebrating the Stanley Cup on the ice Wednesday night, there was another in the stands realizing his dream come true.Tom Higgins, recently diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), was at the Rogers Centre watching his favourite team hoist Lord Stanley’s mug. The Corner Brook man was featured in The Western Star last week. In that article, he spoke about things he wanted to do before he died — one was seeing the Boston Bruins play live. Given they were playing in the final, and he did not see it as possible this year, he said he would be attending a game next season.Some “friends” who read that — he is keeping their identities anonymous — got him tickets to Game 7 of the NHL final. He said everything happened so fast, after he was told about it Sunday morning.“I was dumbfounded and excited,” Higgins said from his hotel room in Vancouver Thursday morning, where he was resting before doing some sightseeing. “It was something I had hoped for for a long time. It was just amazing.”To have “friends” who would do that for him, he could not describe how much it meant to him, weeping as he tried to describe it.“I am very emotional,” he said. “It was very nice.”He donned his Boston Bruins jersey, boarded a plane, and made the flight to Vancouver. The rapidly progressing disease is already taking its toll on Higgins’s body, but with a relaxing game day, he was ready for one of the most exciting evenings of his life.“It was great. Fantastic. A dream come true,” he said.He was booed and heckled, good-natured, on the trip to Vancouver, but he decided against wearing his Bruins jersey in the city and to the game. He was concerned about the harassment he might receive, something he now regrets. He said, even the Vancouver fans seated next to him in the arena were great to him, congratulating him afterwards. He said he told them he hopes Vancouver bounces back to win the cup next year — unless it is against Boston of course.Higgins discovered what it was like to be a VIP Wednesday in Vancouver. The Pan Pacific hotel general manager, Tim Tindle, even got him a limousine for the trip to and from the stadium. He met the likes of Scott Oake, Elliott Friedman, Daren Millard and other media personalties, but none measured up to the few minutes he spent with Don Cherry.He said he complimented Cherry on his jacket and they shook hands. He also whispered to Cherry, “the only thing that could top this would be to meet Bobby Orr,” with the infamous broadcaster laughing and telling him Orr was not there for the game.“I couldn’t believe that, because I am a big Don Cherry fan,” he said. “I watch Coach’s Corner every time Hockey Night in Canada is on. I will even switch over from watching the Yankees to watch Don Cherry.”Higgins said he was among family and friends of the players before the game and he saw former players like Harold Snepsts and Stan Smyl.“I wasn’t shy, I got pictures taken with whoever I could get my hands on,” he said.Higgins said he got really excited when Patrice Bergeron opened the scoring, but, for the most part, tried to soak in the moment. With thousands of passionate fans and the jumbotron to distract him, he said he concentrated on watching as much of the game as possible — impressed the most with Boston’s fourth line and the play of Conn Smythe award winner Tim Thomas.Higgins, who only watched one other game live approximately 30 years ago, said it is a different perspective in person. He was proud to see Michael Ryder play, and said it was special being there while the fellow Newfoundlander hoisted the cup. He stayed for about an hour and-one-half after the game ended to watch the celebration.“It was great to see the Stanley Cup,” he said. “I had seen it many times on TV, but to see it live, and see the guys lifting it over their heads and kissing it, was unbelievable. I couldn’t believe I was here watching my team win the Stanley Cup.“Watching Michael Ryder, a Newfoundlander, lifting it over his head, knowing another Stanley Cup was coming to the rock, it was great.”Higgins said he was fortunate enough to avoid the riots, the limousine returning to chauffeur him back to his hotel after the game. While he could see smoke from the hotel, he said he didn’t encounter or witness any problems.After his diagnosis of ALS, Higgins has been getting his affairs in order. He has his house and motorhome on the market, and is deciding where he will live.Although he is making all his end-of-life arrangements, he is not giving up on life. He says he believes he will live forever, and will keep smiling throughout.A part of his plan is a bucket list, he says joking, but also realistically. The next item is a New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays game in July, an opportunity to see his beloved Yankees play live. It may be another tiring effort, but Higgins can be expected to push through, smiling all the way.