Eleanor Birt

Eleanor and her husband, Roger, have been involved with the hospital for years, but nothing would bring her closer to this cause than a personal event in January 2007.

Eleanor woke with pain around her hip that grew progressively worse until she was unable to walk. After being transported by ambulance to the QEH, she was admitted immediately. “My family stayed with me around the clock, each taking turns. It was lovely but after four days I told them I was ok.” Little did Eleanor know that her family had been informed by her team of four medical specialists that she was seriously ill with a life-threatening infection that had lodged itself in her hip joint.

“I remember they had to do an ECG. I was so sore; I dreaded having to get into a wheelchair and go to the department where the equipment was. I was so grateful when they told me they would use portable equipment and I wouldn’t have to leave my bed. When you’re down and out and sick, all those things you don’t think about become so important.”

Enjoying her good health and inspired by her experience, Eleanor is now a volunteer on the QEH Foundation Capital Campaign Cabinet.

Michael, Shelley & Quentin Curran

Early in May under icy road conditions, Michael Curran of St. Teresa was headed to work when he was involved in a serious car accident. Michael was taken by ambulance to the QEH, then to The Moncton Hospital. He spent two months in their Intensive Care Unit until he was transported back to the QEH. At the QEH, he received one hour of rehab twice a day from Monday to Friday and was able to spend his weekends at home.

“Michael’s recent spinal cord injury has been a very challenging time. However, our family believes that personal strength, perseverance and optimism will guide us through these trying days, and in turn our view of the future is bright and full of life.

One of the key factors in Michael’s recovery and rehabilitation was getting home to PEI. The Provincial Rehab Unit at the QEH had given our family the invaluable option of being home together while Michael was recovering and rehabilitating from his injury,” said Shelley.

Brenda MacCaull

An avid gardener, Brenda MacCaull of Ellerslie was first diagnosed with arthritis at the top of her leg in 1983.
As the arthritis worked its way through her body, so too did the excruciating pain. In addition to over 20 years of pain and suffering, in December of 2006 Brenda’s leg suddenly stopped working altogether. After a speedy referral from a local physician, Brenda met with Dr. Stephen Miller at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital who ordered a CAT scan and an MRI.

These test results were shocking, but explained her pain, determining that there was no tissue left on Brenda’s hipbone. “It was literally bone on bone,” she says. Brenda spent Christmas 2006 at the QEH receiving a very special gift – a new hip.

Eight months later Brenda said, “I feel great. Dr. Miller was absolutely excellent; I’d heard so much about him. I’m so grateful to the QEH for being there for me when I needed it most. I’m just really excited about being able to do things I haven’t been able to do in years.”

Shelley & Tanner Sheppard

Shelly Sheppard of Montague was 32 weeks pregnant with her first child when she went to the QEH concerned about a trickle of fluid. Shelly learned from Dr. Peggy Bethune that she would be induced immediately. After the ensuing surgery, Shelly and her partner, Freeman, were thrilled to have a new baby boy. Baby ‘Tanner’ weighed only 5 pounds and Shelly recalls: “The specialists at the QEH told Freeman that our baby’s lungs were undeveloped and that he had to be referred to the IWK in Halifax. We were devastated.” Tanner spent several days in the ICU in Halifax, and then was deemed stable enough to be transported home to the neonatal intensive care unit at the QEH. “We were so happy to be going home – for us, home was the QEH. We felt a little more like a family then. The experience helped us realize how important it is to have that kind of care close to home.”

Tanner currently requires follow-up care by Dr. Cathy Morrison in Pediatrics at the QEH, but is thriving and healthy.