Simon Ma’s Story
Simon Ma knew he had high blood pressure. He is also the first to admit he had a poor diet, didn’t exercise, and he wasn’t being helped by his pack-a-day smoking habit. But the 50-year old Burnaby man is stunned at how suddenly his life almost ended one night while watching his son play hockey at a Surrey arena.
Ethel Goddard’s Story
Ethel Goddard has led an impressively active life. Hiking, cycling, skiing, tennis: she and her husband would frequently gather the three children and spend time doing all kinds of outdoors activities. It’s a habit Ethel carried into her 80s, as the Langley resident joined local fitness group sessions and walked regularly. It was while out with her daughter that her condition dramatically changed.
Colin Lewis’s Story
It was a series of fortunate circumstances that helped save the life of Colin Lewis. The 73-year old White Rock man was in Abbotsford with family, on their way in a van to pick up the grandchildren from school, when his heart suddenly stopped. Thanks to the quick actions of a number of people in the crucial minutes after Colin suffered cardiac arrest, he was able to successfully undergo emergency quadruple bypass surgery at Royal Columbian Hospital.
Jyotika Prasad’s Story
Jyotika Prasad and her husband were painting their home the weekend before a planned trip to Mexico when she started feeling uncomfortable. The 41-year old Vancouver resident woke up the next day with sore muscles, a lethargic feeling and a deep pain in her upper back. “I thought I pulled some muscles and was sore from doing so much,” she recalls.
As the symptoms persisted, Jyotika made her way to Burnaby General Hospital. There, she received shocking news: she had suffered a heart attack and was a type 2 diabetic. After being sent for further testing at Royal Columbian Hospital – the region’s cardiac care centre – she learned more troubling information. She would need quadruple bypass surgery.
Rose Aviado’s Story
Rose Aviado had not been feeling well the night before. Despite that, as she woke up this October morning, the Surrey resident decided she would not call in sick.
Instead, Rose headed off to work with her husband Cesar, as usual, walking part of the route to the office where they both worked. It was on their way there that the seriousness of her condition started to become clear. Rose complained of dizziness then stumbled to the ground. She would suffer the first of several cardiac arrests that day and in the process would become the first patient at Royal Columbian Hospital to have her life saved with the help of a new donor-funded piece of equipment that had arrived just the day before.
Royal Columbian scores touchdown-inspired $120,000 gift from CP
A high scoring Canadian Football League (CFL) postseason has added up to a sizeable donation for Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation thanks to Canadian Pacific (CP).
CP, through its community investment program CP Has Heart, will make a total contribution of $120,000 to cardiac care at Royal Columbian. CP pledged $5,000 for every home team touchdown during the first two CFL playoff rounds and an extra $10,000 per touchdown by either team during the Grey Cup game in Vancouver.
CP donates $90,000 to Royal Columbian Hospital for cardiac care
In conjunction with Canadian Pacific’s sponsorship of the CFL Grey Cup, the railroad’s CP Has Heart Touchdowns program is making a run to the end zone in the name of cardiac care, delivering cash to Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation. The funds will purchase equipment to improve critical cardiac care at Royal Columbian Hospital.
For every home team touchdown made during the playoffs, CP contributed $5,000 to Royal Columbian for a total of $90,000. Now, all eyes are on the 102nd Grey Cup game on November 30 in Vancouver where every touchdown scored by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Calgary Stampeders will generate an additional $10,000 for Royal Columbian, home to one of the busiest cardiac centres in Canada.
Johnny Gahir’s story
There must be some mistake, thought Johnny Gahir. After all, the robust, energetic 37-year-old father of two from Surrey exercised regularly and took good care of himself. But there was no mistaking the chest pains he was experiencing after coming home from the gym. A cardiology stress test at his local hospital revealed a shadow on the front of his heart and the need for a referral to Royal Columbian Hospital’s cardiac care team.