Recently, Jody Evans met some friends at the Court Jester pub on the Danforth in Toronto. They laughed, raised some money and thought about Mike. Mike wasn’t a co-worker or neighbour and certainly wasn’t a friend, but was a big enough part of Evans’s life.

“Mike” was the name that Evans gave the tumour doctors found in her brain last year.

After suffering from a series of seizures, Evans had an MRI, which revealed a growth on her brain. The tumour was benign and Evans underwent a craniotomy in December to remove it. With Mike out of her life, Evans held the fundraiser as a way to give back to the community that supported her during her ordeal.

“I was so fortunate through the whole … thing. You know, if you’re gonna have a brain tumour, I had the best … It wasn’t cancerous,” Evans said. “I had tremendous support from family and friends … so I really felt compelled to give back.”

Evans said the Court Jester fundraiser took only about a month to organize and she was floored how quickly everything gelled.

“Usually, with an event like this, I would take four or five months to put this together,” explained Evans. “But again, family and friends helped out and we pulled it together.”

The main beneficiary of the fundraiser is the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada.

“There is so much not known about brain tumours,” Evans said. “Research is so limited. The Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada … depends solely on private sponsors (and) public money, as there’s no government funding.”

Evans has also formed a team and will be competing in the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada’s Spring Sprint charity run at the end of the month. The Toronto edition of the run takes place at Sunnybrook Park on Saturday, April 30.

Runners can register at www.braintumour.ca