A powerful journey from living with an artificial heart to a heart transplant....

Saturday, March 26, 2011

A Women's Day

I had the honour of speaking at this event, A Women's Day, for the Federated Women's Institute of Ontario. A wonderful event attended by about 200 women from across the Region. I was invited by Judy and Moira, two nurses working for Trillium Gift of Life Network.

I felt a sense of belonging to this group because I am a woman in male dominated field, continuously working towards equality. As an engineer, women are still a minority. My civil class in university was about 1 woman to 4 men, which is actually high for most engineering classes. Mechanical Engineering, for example, was closer to 1 woman to 20 men.

Judy and Moira kicked-off the event with details of organ and tissue donation. They shared the details with great compassion and clarity for the cause. Thank you ladies for sharing your knowledge and for what you do.

Joining me to speak about our experiences was Cecily and Pam. Cecily shared her story about Kyla, her daughter that passed away at 16 years old. Kyla was a beautiful young woman and passed long before her time. Cecily and her family decided to donate Kyla's tissue and her gifts touched many lives. It was an emotional story that had everyone in the room reaching for their tissue. I was so glad to hear her story and share my appreciation for Kylas gifts.

Pam is my good friend and pump-pal. She shared her story about living on the LVAD and what's it like to wait for an organ. Both ladies did a wonderful job.

Also, joining me for this event was my wonderful supporter, my Mom-in-law, Dianne. She has been there for me through the whole journey. She has held my hand through the bad times and cheered with me for the great times. Thank you Mom for always being there for me.


Moira, Judy, Pam, Cecily, Me and Dianne


1 comment:

  1. Wish I could have been there. You look H-O-T by the way!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete