The family of New York Rangers legend Ron Duguay is opening up about his cancer battle, explaining how \u2014 along with the help of his girlfriend Sarah Palin \u2014 they\u2019ve faced the tragedy together.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been pretty close to death a few times,\u201d Duguay\u2019s daughter Shay Thomas tells Page Six.<\/p>\n
The family launched a GoFundMe this week to help with rising medical costs for the Canadian hockey pro, who played six seasons in New York in the 1970s and 1980s and later became an analyst for MSG Network.<\/p>\n
Ron Duguay\u2019s daughters Amber Stavors (left) and Shay Thomas (right) announced this week that he has cancer in a GoFundMe. Instagram\/mrs__shay<\/p>\n
Shay tells us that her dad had been feeling healthy before his diagnosis of Stage IV colon cancer in November 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wants to share with people to get your colon checked,\u201d Thomas tells us. \u201cHe has always been healthy. This was very shocking for him. But he never got his colon checked.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Thomas, the first signs that something was wrong came while Duguay was in Alaska visiting Palin.<\/p>\n
The Rangers icon was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer in November 2024.<\/p>\n
He started to show his first symptoms while gardening at girlfriend Sarah Palin\u2019s home in Alaska. Instagram\/mrs__shay<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was\u2026 doing gardening work and his stomach was getting really gassy and he was getting really tired,\u201d Thomas tells us.\u00a0\u201cHe was noticing he had to nap and was getting uncomfortable. He flew back to Florida to see one of his regular doctors and they did blood work and noticed his cell count was off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doctors soon discovered the cancer had already spread.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was originally colon cancer and went into his liver and everything,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n
The cancer had spread by the time it was detected. Instagram\/mrs__shay<\/p>\n
Palin has been helping him in the hospital and taking the red-eye when needed. <\/p>\n