Grateful patients

Imagine the shock of discovering your loved one has no vital signs. Mary Charman lived that nightmare: One morning, she woke up to find her husband, Bill, was unresponsive.

She thought she’d lost him.

A CT scan revealed that Bill had suffered a brain aneurism while he slept. After being stabilized at Stevenson, Bill spent two months in the ICU at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. And then—once he was able to breathe again on his own—Bill was transferred home to Stevenson. “With his family by his side, it felt like home,” Mary recalls.

Bill had a long road ahead: he couldn’t speak… he couldn’t walk… he couldn’t even lift a spoon to feed himself. The incredible health care team at Stevenson helped him set little goals along the way to accomplish his ultimate goal of walking his daughter down the aisle on his granddaughter’s wedding day.

For Bill, learning to walk again was terribly difficult. The first day Bill was able to walk without being supported was a very big day! One of his physiotherapists, Heather Venhuizen, remembers, “We were so proud of him; we all had goosebumps that day.” And after weeks of not speaking, Bill simply said the only thing he COULD say; he said ‘thank you!’ with tears in his eyes.

During Mary’s time at Stevenson, supporting her husband Bill, she saw first-hand the difference that the generosity of Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation donors make—and continue to make—in countless lives, not just Bill’s.

Bill did walk his daughter down the aisle and it was more than a dream – it was a miracle, and he did it thanks to the staff at Stevenson and very generous donors like you!