Wednesday, February 10, 2021
Southpoint Sun - 5
Erie Shores Health Foundation Raising funds for Erie Shores HealthCare and The Hospice Erie Shores Campus
Local heart patient thankful for care at Erie Shores HealthCare For Dan Gelinas, Thanksgiving Day in 2009 will always be etched in his memory. Also etched in his memory from that day, and the days that followed, is the care he received at Erie Shores HealthCare, then known as Leamington District Memorial Hospital. The day started like any other, with family over for Thanksgiving dinner. “After dinner, we cleaned up and went to bed, and while my wife went to sleep, I opted to watch some TV,” he said. “As I reached for the remote, I felt a sharp pain in my chest,” said Gelinas. “I knew right there that something was not right.” He roused his wife Mary Beth, and she drove him into the hospital in Leamington. His approach to the triage window was apologetic. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I think I’m having a heart attack,” he told them. “Before I got the words out, five or six people were at my side.” He was taken into the Emergency Department, where staff began working on him. He looked over and saw a nurse, who assured him that everything was going to be fine. Then, he blacked out. As he blacked out, his wife — who was still sitting in the waiting room — heard the dreaded ‘code blue’ come over the hospital’s P.A. system. When he awoke, the same nurse was still standing by his side. He heard
the doctor say, “He’s back.” With lots of lights and a flurry of activity, they were actively working to save his life. Doctors had told his wife that he needed to go to London by ambulance, but he only had a 50-50 chance of surviving the trip. Gelinas survived the trip and credits that nurse, whose name is Yvonne, with saving his life by accompanying him to London in that ambulance. “She held my hand all the way there,” he said. “I truly believe that she played a big part in saving my life that day.” In London, Gelinas underwent an angiogram procedure, where they found a blood clot very close to his heart. They inserted a stent and he was released from hospital three days later. The doctors in London had indeed saved him with the procedure. But it’s the care he got at Erie Shores that lingers in his mind, still to this day. “They couldn’t do enough to make sure I was taken care of,” he said. “They saved my life.” As for nurse Yvonne, he often wondered what happened to her over the years. When he was asked to be part of the Care Happens Here campaign by filming a video a year-and-a-half ago, he was finally able to reconnect with Yvonne. “She came up behind me and surprised me,” he said. “I was very surprised and happy to see her again.” As for life after the heart attack, Gelinas says that he’s done more in
Dan Gelinas thankful for his care he received at Erie Shores HealthCare back in 2009. his life since the incident than he did before, such as running for public office and continuing his slo-pitch career. He now has 27 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren and takes nothing for granted. “Something like this changes your mind-set,” he adds. “It makes you
realize just what is important in life.” His gratitude to Erie Shores HealthCare shines through in every conversation and he’s happy to be alive some 11 years later. “It’s a whole new world to me.” Dan’s video can be viewed on Erie Shores Health Foundation’s Facebook page.
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