The flags were at half mast outside Health Sciences North Monday to mourn the passing of Dr. William Fay, who launched dialysis treatment in the north.
Fay died Nov. 14 at the age of 72.
“He was a wonderful man,” said Mary-Katherine Coady, a supervisor with Health Sciences North's nephrology outpatient program, who knew Fay for 30 years. “He was kind and compassionate.”
Fay was born in Trim, County Meath, Ireland in 1942.
When he was 17, he earned a scholarship at the University College Dublin Medical School. He was the program's youngest student when he started.
After graduating from medical school, he emigrated to Canada and settled in Sudbury.
In 1973, he founded Greater Sudbury's first dialysis program.
“If you had renal failure or kidney failure up until then, you either relocated to Hamilton or Toronto,” said Coady. “You left your life here in Sudbury, or Timmins, or wherever you were from, and you left there for treatment.”
In the early 1990s, Fay helped set up satellite dialysis centres in remote northern communities, where care was not otherwise easily accessible.
Shortly before his death, Fay had just returned from a trip to New Liskeard, Elliot Lake and Kirkland Lake, where he met with dialysis patients, Coady said.
His death was due to a sudden illness, and was a shock to most who knew him, she said.
“We're very heavy-hearted.”
Fay received a number of awards throughout his career, including Honorary Life Member Award, from Science North, the Glenn Sawyer Service Award, from the Ontario Medical Association, and most recently, the Human Touch Award, from the Ontario Renal Network.
“He was a good man who made a difference in the lives of people in Greater Sudbury and northeastern Ontario with kidney disease,” said Dr. Richard Goluch, medical director of Health Sciences North's nephrology service, in a press release.
Fay is survived by his wife Anne, their children Heather (husband Charles), Tania, Michael, Conor, Natasha (husband Syras) and Eóin, and by his grandchildren Dagmar, Éile, Meallá, Simeon and Anna. He is also survived by his brother, Sean, in Ireland (wife Kathleen), and their children Ellen, Thomas, Mary, James, and Paula.
A funeral service for Fay will be held Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 10 a.m., at Christ the King Church. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Dr. W.P. Kay Bursary, at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, or the Kidney Foundation would be appreciated.
