North Shore Rescue aims to 'Rescue the rescuer' Jay Piggot after cancer diagnosis

North Shore Rescue is famous for saving lives, but now the volunteer organization is rallying to help save one of its own.

Friends and colleagues of North Shore Rescue member Jay Piggot have started a crowdfunding campaign called Rescue the Rescuer after he was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer.

The 34-year-old father of two works full-time hours with the B.C. Ambulance service but is classified as a part-time worker and therefore isn't eligible for sick time or health benefits.

PIggot was diagnosed last week with cholangiocarcinoma, a rare cancer that attacks liver bile ducts. His tumour is large, and will need to be shrunk with chemotherapy before the surgery to remove it.

That means he could be off work for a year or more during his cancer treatment.

The volunteer medic on the North Shore Rescue elite helicopter team says getting the cancer diagnosis was devastating, but he's thankful to have so much support.

"It's been a brotherhood," he said. "Now more than ever, it's meant more than ever to me."

Fellow North Shore Rescue member Curtis Jones describes Piggot as a man who puts others first.

"He embodies the motto of  'So that others may live,'" stated Jones. "Jay has risked his own life many times, so that complete strangers might live and be reunited with their families."

As of 8:00 a.m. Monday morning over $35,000 had been raised by the Rescue the Rescuer campaign.