When a player signs a contract with a professional team, the announcement usually includes comments from the player and they are usually about the team and how they are happy to be there.
When Paris Gee signed with the Vancouver FC soccer team on Jan. 23, it was a little different.
Gee was, indeed, delighted to be playing in his home province, closer to family and friends, according to the statement, which then went on to mention his dad, 74-year-old Donald Gee, had recently been diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and was in search of a kidney donor.
A photo taken for the signing showed Paris and his dad standing together on the Willoughby soccer field, surrounded by friends and family.
His two-year deal with Vancouver FC will be the first time Paris has played in B.C. since he was a teenager – a kid with a supportive dad who, despite having no soccer background, encouraged his youngest child to follow his soccer dreams.
“He’s been such a support for me,” Paris said.
“He’s helped out a lot, [even] financially at the beginning of my career, to keep me going.”
A veteran of the game, Gee, 29, has played nearly 200 professional matches for teams across Canada, the United States, and in Croatia, but never in his home province.
He spent the past two seasons with Vancouver rival York United FC, even playing at the VFC stadium in Willoughby last July.
A few weeks before the January announcement that Paris would be playing closer to family and friends in Burnaby over the Christmas holiday, Donald suffered acute kidney failure and is now on dialysis.
“It just started two weeks ago,” Gee told the Langley Advance Times on Monday, Jan. 29.
“He goes in about three times a week for four-hour sessions at seven in the morning. So it’s been a big change for him.”
Paris said Donald’s enforced idleness has been frustrating for the active senior, who recovered from a triple bypass operation in 2011.
He is a trap shooter and member of the Pitt Meadows Gun Club, and loves to go fishing and traveling, Paris said.
“We usually go to Hawaii once or twice a year.”
Now, Donald won’t be able to go on vacation until he finds a kidney.
Family members, including Paris, have been tested as transplant candidates, but so far, no one has been compatible. “We don’t have any matches. One of my older cousins was able to donate, but she wasn’t a match.”
Donald is hopeful spreading the news will help find a donor.
“Whenever he [Donald] brings it up, he just wants as much help as he can to get the word out,” Paris reported.
Any interested parties are advised to contact the donor nurse coordinator at Vancouver General Hospital (Tel: 604-875-5182 / 1-855-875-5182 or by email at kidneydonornurse@vch.ca) or go through the BC Transplant website (www.transplant.bc.ca).
Donald Gee’s file number is #25572.
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