A million times, thank you!
Someone once told me that it is never enough to just say thank you to a person for a kind gesture, you have to truly mean it.
This doesn’t mean you have to go above and beyond every time someone opens the door for you or tells you how pretty you look; it just means adding that little extra something to show your appreciation.
I write you all today for that very reason as I have a lot to be grateful for and am in desperate need to show the Sudbury community how much they truly have impacted my life.
It was a little over two years ago that the words “double lung transplant” came strolling into my world, words that I was entirely unprepared for. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think life would throw me this kind of ultimatum and that I would be put in a situation where a lung transplant was my only hope for survival.
While trying to swallow the fact that I was on a path to a very scary and invasive surgery, my husband, Joel, and I also learned that a move to Toronto was necessary in order to be close to the hospital.
So, we took unpaid leaves from work, cancelled our lease with our apartment, packed our belongings and made the grand move to the big city. With no money coming in and not a whole lot of help from the government, Joel and I were in what felt like an impossible situation.
How were we supposed to pay for rent and daily living without jobs? And yet how were we suppose keep our brains sane and ready for transplant when all we can think about is whether or not we will have a home next month or enough money to buy food? This is the unfortunate reality of most transplant patients.
Luckily, this world is filled with some extraordinary people like you who have kindly given not only the funds to help people like me, but the kind words of encouragement that is needed in order to keep us strong.
The Sudbury community has been so kind and generous to us, and we will always be grateful for the unbelievable love and support that arose in our time of need.
It is truly a remarkable and special thing to see an entire community, filled with folks we know and some we don’t, gather up together to help one of their own.
With your help, we were able to keep our focus on the main reason why we were in Toronto in the first place; a double lung transplant. And so from the bottom of my heart, I extend to you the biggest THANK YOU anyone could possibly give.
Today marks a very special day for me, as I officially am one year post transplant! I look back on this past year and I can’t believe all that has happened. I have so much to be grateful for! I am alive and breathing today because a beautiful and kind person registered to be an organ donor.
And so please, if you have not already registered, do it! I am proof that organ donations works! Go to beadonor.ca.
Once again…THANK YOU for everything! This journey would have not been possible without you!
Sincerely and forever grateful,
Tina Proulx
Sudbury