Adriana Bronk’s Story
Adriana Bronk was having such bad shortness of breath, she could no longer rest in her own bed. Instead, the 91-year-old woman had begun to sleep in a reclining chair. It turns out she was in need of a new heart valve. Unfortunately, surgery was not an option for her. She also wouldn’t be suitable for a non-surgical procedure known as TAVI – that is, until Royal Columbian Hospital became only the second site in Canada to use a new approach that is providing an option for people who otherwise would have none left.
Ken Carrusca’s Story
Ken Carrusca has been playing hockey for decades and has racked up a number of injuries over the years. But when the 50-year-old collapsed on the ice in Burnaby in early 2018, it very quickly became a matter of life or death.
John Harrison’s Story
John Harrison was three months into his retirement when the 62-year-old and his wife Carol left their home on a nice summer morning for a regular bicycle ride in Tsawwassen. The couple approached a big hill with different strategies: Carol took it slow, while John went hard and fast. As Carol pedalled up the hill, she looked up to see that her husband, a fair distance away, was now on the ground.
Jeff Palmer’s Story
Jeff Palmer was feeling good on the first day of the annual Cops for Cancer fundraising ride in 2015. The West Vancouver police officer had chatted with students at a Burnaby elementary school before he headed back out on the road with other members of his cycling team. But shortly thereafter, he started feeling lightheaded. Just as he thought about telling nearby paramedics, his heart stopped.
Ashley and Hazel Durance
Ashley Durance had just survived a life-threatening complication of pregnancy. Her newborn girl Hazel, among the most premature and smallest ever to be born at Royal Columbian Hospital, was under constant watch in the intensive care unit for newborns. And now Ashley’s father Rick Walsh was about to undergo open heart surgery. With Christmas of 2016 only a couple of days away, it was hard to believe all that had happened in the last several weeks.
Valerie Vandervelden’s Story
77-year old Valerie Vandervelden felt calm leading up to her scheduled heart procedure. She fully trusted Dr. Albert Chan, the interventional cardiologist who would be providing a drug-free option to lessen her risk of stroke. But as Valerie was brought into the cardiac catheterization lab, the Coquitlam resident was surprised at the large number of people standing by. She soon learned she was about to become part of Royal Columbian history, thanks to donors to Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation.
Donors help Royal Columbian purchase world’s smallest heart-lung machine
A medical team from Royal Columbian Hospital that is called upon by the region’s other hospitals to take over the care of critically ill patients is now travelling much lighter thanks to donors to Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation.
Generous support has allowed the hospital’s Extracorporeal Life Support (ECLS) team – the only mobile retrieval team of its kind in the province – to become the first in British Columbia to acquire the CARDIOHELP system, a portable machine that takes over the function of the heart and lungs when a patient’s health is rapidly deteriorating.
Val Shactman’s Story
Val Shactman realized something was very wrong when the paramedics prepared to shock him. By this point, his heart was pounding at hundreds of beats a minute. The 37-year old was rushed to Royal Columbian Hospital for a heart arrhythmia that left him hospitalized for weeks. What he saw during his lengthy stay at Royal Columbian made a profound impact on his life.
FortisBC employees give with warm hearts
A FortisBC employee-run charitable group has offered support to BC’s busiest cardiac care centre.
The Warm Hearts Charitable Foundation has made a $7,500 donation to Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation’s Cardiac Care Campaign. The money raised is helping to upgrade the monitoring and imaging equipment in the hospital’s cardiac cath lab.
Canada’s largest bank supports BC’s busiest cardiac care team
RBC has added its name to Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation’s Cardiac Care Campaign.
A $20,000 gift from RBC Foundation will help upgrade the equipment inside the hospital’s two cardiac catheterization labs.