Community members have already stepped up to help a young island man and his family face brain tumour treatment with a GoFundMe campaign, and now an event at Moby’s Pub is adding more impetus to offer support.
Odin Watsonmesser, 27, who graduated from Gulf Islands Secondary School in 2016 and has developed a business as a personal fitness trainer, was diagnosed with a diffuse glioma brain tumour in December and underwent surgery at Victoria General Hospital on Feb. 9. His father Tom Messer is well known as the longtime bartender at the Salt Spring Inn.
“The surgery was a success,” reports the GoFundMe page set up by family friend Caitlin Hart. “The neurosurgical team achieved a gross total resection of the tumour, removing the affected portion of his right temporal lobe with clear margins and no neurological deficits. This means the surgeons reached the full goal of removal. Odin has been an absolute champion throughout this entire process. He has faced surgery and recovery with strength, courage, and a positive attitude that humbles us all.”
“I’m still feeling great, taking this all day by day and enjoying life as usual,” Watsonmesser stated in a Feb. 27 update. “Family, friends, passions, goals — so much to feel grateful for and appreciate even with all this insanity I’m going through.”
Hart said Watsonmesser started receiving radiation treatments at the B.C. Cancer Clinic in Victoria on March 23. They are scheduled to continue for seven weeks. Following a four-week break, chemotherapy treatments will begin. Treatment is slated to continue until July 2027.
The GoFundMe page is still accepting donations to meet its $80,000 goal, and people can also support the family at a Moby’s Pub fundraiser on Thursday, April 2. Titled Odinfest, it features three live bands donating their talents — The Wandering Wolves, Gasoline Alley and The Gunnits — plus a raffle for great prizes, gift cards and more. All raffle proceeds and the $15 cover charge will go directly to help with Watsonmesser’s recovery and treatment. Music begins at 7 p.m.