Fraser Valley – In early-December 2020 David Corke was happy to be out doing what he loved again—coaching soccer.
The former professional player, now the Head Coach for one of Coastal FC’s high-performance programs ( and involved with Abbotsford Soccer Association), was trying to concentrate on helping his team when seemingly out of nowhere his back started to hurt.He made it through the rest of the day, but he decided he needed to check into it.
“I went and saw a chiropractor—didn’t help. And then the pain got so bad that I went to get it examined and they thought it might be kidney stones,” says David. “We investigated that. Antibiotics didn’t work. Then they took some blood, and before you knew it, I was off to VGH.”
The blood work came back with a diagnosis that floored him. David had leukemia. A cancerous mass had formed in his stomach that was causing the pain. He needed treatment immediately.
“I started chemotherapy on Christmas Day,” says David. “It was confusing, scary, and obviously I couldn’t see my family because of the pandemic.”
David went from being on the soccer pitch helping promising young athletes to realize their best selves, to being isolated in hospital away from everything he loved—his wife Vanessa and two teenage sons. He went from being a healthy, strong, dynamic, and confident person to dropping down to 51 kilograms, unable to climb stairs or bathe himself.
Thankfully, David had the support, care and expertise from Dr. Maryse Power and the health care teams at VGH—the provincial Centre for the treatment of blood cancers and blood diseases.
After the toughest months of his life, with thanks to the many specialists and health care providers at VGH, David made it through. And in April 2021, his cancer was in remission. Though his journey to recovery was far from over, for the first time in months David felt everything might turn out OK.
In celebration of his care team’s dedication, David, his family, and his friends started a fundraising campaign called the “Corke Classic”. It began in 2021 with 60 golfers raising money to support patients and their families struggling with new living expenses: gas cards, grocery cards, flight tickets, and more. It has since tripled attendance with 180 golfers and raised $20,000 in 2023.
“I feel outstanding today,” says David. “This is about me giving back and providing what I can. I can’t say thank you enough to all the teams at VGH.”
Here is David’s full story.
The Millionaire Lottery supports VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation and money raised goes to funding innovative research, advancing specialized adult health care, and purchasing critical medical equipment at Vancouver General Hospital, UBC Hospital, GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre, Vancouver Community Health Services and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute.
