When Marten Van Huizen met Dr. Ahmad Ashrafi, from Surrey’s thoracic surgery team, he was immediately impressed: “Dr. Ashrafi was very engaging from the start, very thorough and frank.”

Surgery was Marten’s best hope to remove cancer from both his lungs. He had already endured major surgeries to remove colorectal cancer, but the disease had spread, and the cancer “spots” found in the lungs were not responding to chemotherapy.

“The whole thoracic team in Surrey is extremely skilled. We have a top drawer team here. If they are not in the top five in North America, I would be surprised.”

Now back at work, Marten is focused on helping the thoracic team by raising funds for a piece of high-tech equipment that will help future patients by providing the surgeons with a minimally invasive way to locate cancers that are deep within the lung.