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.
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.