Michael Hugo: Florida dad with Stage 4 brain cancer hopes to film duet with Tim McGraw for his daughters' weddings
WELLINGTON, FLORIDA: A doting father, who has terminal brain cancer, is hoping Country star Tim McGraw will make an appearance alongside him at his daughters' weddings one day. Michael Hugo, 37, was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma in April 2022.
Hugo is an adventurer and a natural athlete. He has reportedly skydived, earned his pilot license, scuba-dived off the Great Barrier Reef, completed a staggering 11 Iron Man races and run more than 100 marathons. Despite his debilitating condition, Hugo hasn't lost his competitive spirit.
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Didn't know how aggressive it was
“If we are running on a treadmill in the gym and you’re next to me, we’re racing,” he told WPBF 25 News, adding, “You may not know it, but we’re racing." Hugo has been married to his wife Vanessa for more than a decade and the couple have two daughters, who are six and seven. “They are just getting to that age now where their personality is really blossoming. They are jokesters just like me,” he said.
In April 2022, Hugo was driving home when he had a seizure and crashed his car. He was rushed to a hospital with a broken back, but MRI scans of his brain changed his life forever. In a stunning coincidence, Hugo reportedly works in neurological medical device sales while his wife is a clinical research analyst. The father-of-two knew it was cancer when he saw his scans but didn't know how aggressive it was. However, he was scheduled to undergo a brain surgery less than a week later. “It grew back right after the surgery, but it was still within the radiation field,” he reportedly said, adding, “So, between the radiation, the Optune, and the different chemotherapies that I’m in, I have had stable scans. Some people can live years with stable scans.” Optune is reportedly an FDA-approved medical device designed to treat glioblastoma. Hugo wears the machine on his head to slow the spread of the tumor.
'I know the statistics'
Hugo is currently in the middle of writing letters for his daughters' milestones and birthdays. What he really wants, however, is to dance with his daughters on their wedding days. “I did the daddy-daughter dance in Wellington, and that was awesome,” he said, adding, “That kind of made me think, 'Man, I want to dance with my kids at their wedding.'”
Hugo said that he understood the odds of his survival were slim. “I know the statistics,” he admitted, adding, “The statistics for glioblastoma are a median survival of 14 months; half the people are dead by 14 months. The five-year survival is four or five percent.” Nonetheless, he hopes to make an appearance via video with country legend Tim McGraw, who also lost his father to brain cancer. “His dad passed away from glioblastoma, and he wrote that song, 'Live Like You Were Dying.' It hits me hard," Hugo said, adding that he hoped the star would come across his social media appeal to film a duet with him of his hit song, 'My Little Girl.' The embattled father is waiting to be contacted by someone on McGraw's team.
Meanwhile, he is reading the book 'The Daily Stoic' which he said brought him peace about the probability of the inevitable. “We live a thousand tragedies in our minds,” he explained, adding, “Not all of them come true. Most of them don’t. The reality is that this one is probably going to come true, but I don’t need to live that tragedy every single day.”
Hugo thanked his neurosurgeon for his current quality of life. “Dr. Komotar from the University of Miami did a great job, which is why I’m able to have this conversation with minimal deficit, but the reality is my golf swing still hooks a little to the left,” he quipped. Hugo is scheduled to start another round of oral chemotherapy next week, per WPBF.