Hamilton man wins JP Motor’s Christmas van giveaway after years of health struggles

A Hamilton man who is lucky to be alive received an incredible Christmas gift on Thursday. Mike Ciganovic was nominated by his mom for JP Motor’s annual Christmas van giveaway and he won.

“I still think this is unreal, but it’s a beautiful gift from god,” Ciganovic said.

It’s a gift Mike and his wife Maria say will aid in Mike’s road to recovery following years of health struggles.

In 2019, Mike woke up in the middle of the night with excruciating back pain. A CT scan confirmed that there was a major tear in the main blood vessel of his heart. Even after surviving emergency heart surgery, there was more bad news. Mike was told he wouldn’t be able to use his legs again.

Mike’s left arm was also starting to go numb after the surgery, which threatened to take away one of his passions. “I’m a musician, I play bagpipes, so I thought I wouldn’t be able to do that no more… I thought everything was going to come to an end for me,” Ciganovic said.

Mike was given two options, have a second surgery that would improve his chances of recovering movement but comes with a high risk of heart attack or stroke during the procedure, or not have the surgery, and likely never recover feeling again. Mike decided to have the surgery.

Mike still has a long way to go, so the van, as well as a $1,000 donation from Walkaway Insurance, is a major help.

“We are in quite a bit of debt too because of everything that’s happened, so, plus the pandemic happened, I was out of a job… I’m very grateful, very grateful,” Maria said.

JP Motors has been giving away a van to a member of the community they feel needs it, for the past 13 years. “We’re quite honoured to be able to give someone that was so courageous and hard worker and deserving of a van. It’s definitely going to make a difference in their life.

Mike has started a GoFundMe page to modify the vehicle to make it accessible for his electric wheelchair.