Dad of Four Thought 'Lingering Headaches' Were from Car Accident, Turns Out It Was a Brain Tumor

By Amanda Thomason June 27, 2020 at 9:26am

If you get into a car accident, it’s reasonable to expect that there will be aftereffects that might stick around for a while. Back, neck and general pain are pretty common, depending on the severity of the crash.

So when Trevor Gagnier of Massachusetts got into a car accident, it didn’t seem too strange that he had a headache. But it wouldn’t go away, and soon concerns about a possible concussion or other accident-related injuries drove him to get an MRI.

What the doctors found in the imaging had nothing to do with the wreck. The headaches were, in fact, being caused by a 2-inch brain tumor.

“Immediately after looking at the MRI Doctors had to break the devastating news to him and his wife,” the GoFundMe set up for the family reads. “What was causing these lingering headaches was nothing to do with this minor accident, it was because he had a 5 cm Brain Tumor that appeared to be very aggressive.”

“On June 1st Trevor went into Brigham and Women’s [hospital in Boston] to remove as much of the tumor as possible. Surgery went really well but they couldn’t remove it all and we have since learned that the tumor was exactly what we had feared, a grade 4 Glioblastoma.”

“He is walking, talking, eating, seeing, etc,” Gagnier’s wife, Meghan, posted on Facebook after the surgery, according to South Coast Today. “He is in great spirits … he has the nurses laughing and we get to laugh along too via FaceTime! We are so lucky to have such great nurses and doctors who are taking care of him.”

Gagnier, an assistant coach for the Apponequet Regional High School girls basketball team, has many supporters. One of them started the GoFundMe for him and his family.

“Trevor is not only a great Husband, Son, Brother, Uncle, Cousin, Coach, and Friend,” the page reads. “He is the proud father of 4 beautiful kids all under the age of 11. His Wife Meg is a real life superhero, juggling the kids and taking care of Trev every minute.”

“We wanted to start this fundraiser weeks ago but Meg is so proud and really didn’t want to ask for financial help. There’s not a lot we can all do besides lighten the financial burden of all of this. On top of all the medical treatment, travel and unforeseen costs, there is a lot to get done around the house that Trev would normally do.”

So far, the campaign has raised over $128,000 — money that will certainly help the family in a variety of ways.

Another friend and former assistant coach, Rick Taylor, came up with a creative way to show how much the community — and even strangers — are rooting for Gagnier: He asked people to submit videos of themselves making 3-point shots.

“I figured an Instagram challenge thing for Trev would make things lighthearted and raise his spirits,” Taylor said. “The whole idea is I wanted it to be lighthearted and I wanted to take his mind off of it. I wanted people to have fun with it. I thought that Trevor and Meg would like it. It started to catch on.”

The videos can be seen at the Make a Trey for Trev Instagram page.

“It’s been great,” Taylor said. “He’s got a great family and a lot of friends and a community around him. It’s fun watching the community support him.”

With people offering to help out the family both financially and emotionally, all the Gagniers can do is wait.

“Hopefully a year from now, we’ll say that car accident saved his life,” Apponequet athletic director Jim Cabucio said. “If anyone is going to beat this, it’s Trevor.”

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