Michael Thai

Michael Thai passed away peacefully at the Chinook Hospice, on the morning of Monday, April 16, 2018 at the young age of 29 years.

Mike was born on October 5, 1988 in Calgary, Alberta to his parents Phi To and Quang Thai. He has an older brother, John Thai.

Michael was always ready to accept anyone into his life, he was truly a ball of sunshine. He used to stumble over his words to tell his next joke: “Why did the picture go to a jail? It got framed” or “What did say the mother’s door to his daughter’s door? You are so adoorable”, he then would start to laugh, revealing a magnetic smile. Michael was funny, sweet, and smart.

He always had the most positive outlook even though he was fighting cancer for the majority of life. Mike had his first bout with the dreaded ‘C’ word at the age of four when doctors found a tumor in his brain. An operation removed enough of it to save Michael’s life - taking too much would’ve caused permanent blindness - so part of the tumor remained.

It returned when he was nine, forcing him to fight again; a battle he won. But this time it took quite a toll on Michael that would forever change him. From development issues, seizures, chronic neck torsion with restricted movement, short-term memory loss, partial blindness, hearing loss and terrible nose bleeds to name a few; he still had a great attitude. Michael never gave up on his life or his dreams, truly living up to his life motto, “hakuna matata!” wise words from a famous warthog and meerkat duo.

At 27 years old, he decided he was ready to be Mr. Independent and moved in with two very special individuals; Veronica and Fabian who became his full-time supportive roommates. The three were a perfect match, and his life exploded in a greatest way possible. Mike really felt loved and part of a family.

But the dreaded ‘C’ was not done with Michael. In December 2016, he was rushed to hospital and the doctors discovered he had stage 4 tumors in his colon and liver. An emergency operation removed the cancer from his colon, but the tumor in his liver remained because it was too large and required chemotherapy to shrink it before they could operate. During this time one of his lungs collapsed; once again, Michael found himself fighting for life in the ICU.

Michael fought hard and miraculously his health improved. His wish around this time was to go to Disneyland. Guess what, he got his wish and in the summer of 2017; Michael, Veronica, and Fabian boarded a plane to his dream destination. In so many ways, the trip was a dream come true, but the best part was when said Michael said, "being with my family makes me so happy!”

Another memorable quote from Michael is this, “forget about the past, live in the present, and look forward to the future.” He continues, “I hope that my story inspires people, never give up, keep fighting and believe miracles can happen.”

I believe in miracles because of Michael, he was and is a miracle.

Celebration of life will be held at Evan J. Strong Funeral Services (5502 - 2 Street SW) on Friday, April 20, 2018 at 1:00 pm.  

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Michael Thai, please visit our floral store.