Fort 91原创鈥檚 Colton Muench was an active athlete with a strong work ethic who competed in two very different sports.

He would spend six to eight hours a week at the 91原创 Rod and Gun Club, where he was a member, to practice target shooting, and then train twice a day, six days a week for kayaking, both on the water as well as cross-training.

His efforts paid off with five gold medals in sprint kayaking at the 2010 B.C. Summer Games held in the Township of 91原创, and silver at the national championships.

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At the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax, competing in target shooting, Muench and Vancouver鈥檚 Dominic Chan narrowly missed taking home a bronze medal.

The B.C. pair placed fourth with 1,052 points, a mere four points away from reaching the podium.

Muench remained an active kayaker and fisherman, until he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in January of 2021.

His sister, Raven, described it as 鈥渁 shocking diagnosis for someone so young, age 27, living an active non-smoking healthy lifestyle.鈥�

Within weeks, a PET scan showed the cancer had metastasized to his hips, sternum, ribs and lymph nodes.

鈥淭he doctor gave him six months to live,鈥� Raven recalled.

A year later, multiple aggressive treatments have extended his life, but have prevented Muench from working.

Now, Raven said the family is hoping a drug treatment not covered by B.C. medical or the cancer society could help, and have launched a GoFundMe campaign 鈥�,鈥� to raise $60,000 toward the cost.

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Trastuzumab-anns (Brand name Kanjinti) is a 鈥渂iologic鈥� drug that was approved for other types of cancer by the U.S. FDA in 2019, but has shown promise in treating lung cancers as well.

Organized by his mother-in-law, Birgitt Findler-Sanders, the campaign had, as of Monday, raised $24,000.

An update by Findler-Sanders said Colton underwent his first round of the new drug on Friday, Feb. 25.

鈥淚t was a busy day for him,鈥� Findler-Sanders posted. 鈥淗e spent four hours in Surrey receiving the new treatment then drove to Vancouver to receive his regular chemo treatment of three and a half hours.鈥�

鈥淲e are truly hoping and praying this will help him,鈥� Findler-Sanders said.

She added Colton and his wife Malena 鈥渁re overwhelmed with the support from everyone and want to say thank you from the bottom of their hearts.鈥�

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