Sharing stories is an important way to feel connected and understood. When you are far from home and caring for a child, it can be lonely. Our hope is that through sharing stories, families can feel a sense of support and connection to one another.
Several families have shared their stories below. If you’d like to do the same, we invite you to send your story by email to info@yanacomoxvalley.com.
Maverick’s story offers a glimpse of the challenges Maverick and his family faced during their many months away from home while receiving medical care in Vancouver and celebrates the community support offered to them through YANA.
Natasha was a brave, bold baby girl. Her illness and medications and all of the medical devices that came with them, were not going to stop her from playing with her favourite toy. She was almost always happy despite spending much of her short life in hospital.
Tessa’s story was featured at the Big Love Benefit on February 26, 2016. She has shown incredible strength and courage throughout her medical journey facing Fibrolamellar Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
Our second son, Noah, was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome in utero. My wife and I knew we would be spending many weeks in Vancouver before his birth.
This audiovisual story shows a day in the life of Ruby and her courage in fighting leukemia not once but twice.
Linden’s audiovisual story shows a typical day for a child and a mom travelling from the Comox Valley to BC Children’s Hospital and back again for medical treatment.
Gabe’s audiovisual story highlights his courage and the strength and focus that a parent requires in caring for a little person with leukemia.
Kai’s audiovisual story begins with his parents, a regular pregnancy and excitement about the birth of their baby, but progresses to frightening uncertainty and a sudden need to be in Vancouver for a long period of time.
It took 11 years and many frequent trips back to Vancouver for Nathan to receive a diagnosis for an extremely rare autoimmune disease. YANA has been with us since the start and has helped with everything.
All told, we spent an unanticipated 15 months in Vancouver. YANA provided financial assistance for our accommodation, so we could focus 100 percent on what we needed to most, our daughter Tori.
Thank you YANA for making it possible for my Mummy and Daddy to travel to all the places that I needed to be.
With YANA’s help my parents were able to stay with me in Vancouver while we learned all about cystic fibrosis and how to take care of it.
When I was born at St. Joseph’s, the doctors and nurses knew I needed help and quickly flew me to BC Children’s Hospital. I had surgery when I was one week old.
When my mom and I go to the hospital, YANA helps us to get there. My mom says that YANA gives us a home away from home.
My water broke at 22 weeks and we were told that we would have our baby and most likely would not survive. We beat those odds.
A complicated twin pregnancy brought us to live in Vancouver so that we would be near Children’s Hospital for daily appointments. I don’t know how we could have kept our family together or managed the financial strain of paying for a second residence without YANA’s support.
