Brian Chappell had a very special Christmas gift for St. Boniface Hospital in 2024.
Chappell, a retired teacher and Winnipeg School Division administrator, walked into the St. Boniface Hospital Foundation office on Monday, December 23, and made a $10,000 gift on the spot to Manitoba’s Cardiac Centre of Excellence and cardiac research at St. B.
“I am a proud supporter of the Hospital, patient care, and medical research being done here,” said Chappell in an interview that same day. He added he was tired of reading negative news stories about Manitoba’s health-care system and wanted to make a positive impact.
His journey to the Foundation’s front desk was one of deeply felt gratitude over many years.
“I’ve been thinking about making this gift ever since I got my pacemaker at St. Boniface Hospital back in July of 2024,” explained Chappell. “I found out that a pacemaker can cost in the vicinity of $30,000 each,” he said.
Chappell noticed a St. Boniface Hospital Foundation ad in the Free Press promoting our year-end Voices of Hope campaign, which offered Manitobans a chance to triple their impact until December 31, thanks to matching donors. “I figured, if I give $10,000, that triples me up to $30,000 and there goes the expenses related to my pacemaker.”
“I can make commitments and stick with them; I can do what I enjoy.”
In 2008, he had been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (AFib), the most common form of abnormal heart rhythm, characterized by periods of rapid and irregular heartbeat, or arrhythmia. (The University of Ottawa Heart Institute estimated that by 2050, five-to-10 million people in North America will have AFib.)
“I was told it would probably get worse with time, and it did,” he said. Eventually, Chappell was put in touch with St. B cardiologist Dr. Clarence Khoo, whom he first met with last February.
“After our first meeting, I still had two more episodes of persistent AFib that required cardioversion at St. B’s Emergency Department,” he said. Cardioversion is a shock treatment, given under sedation, to restore a regular heart rhythm. Chappell had been cardioverted several times before then also.
Chappell and his caregivers decided that cardioversion was not the long-term solution for his heart condition. Neither were the antiarrhythmic medications he was prescribed to help control his heartbeat, which he found to be ineffective over time. “The medications really laid me out,” he said.
Pacemaker implanted in July
Back in Dr. Khoo’s office in June, Chappell considered the options he had left, including trying different medications.
“I said to Dr. Khoo, ‘I have been struggling with this for 16 years; I would like to go right to the option that you know will work,’” he remembered.
“He explained to me that the most reliable option was to give me a pacemaker to control my heart rhythm, followed by monitoring. If the AFib continued, they would also perform an ablation,” said Chappell. An ablation treats AFib surgically by destroying the AV node, the area of tissue that sends electrical signals from the atria to the ventricles.
“Within a week of seeing Dr. Khoo, I had my appointment for the pacemaker.” He received it in July at St. B’s Bergen Cardiac Care Centre.
“The staff at St. B were amazing,” he continued. “People welcomed me and made sure I was comfortable. Dr. Khoo came to see me. Then they wheeled me into the Electrophysiology (EP) Lab, and next thing I knew, I had a pacemaker. You can hardly see the incision scar.” St. Boniface Hospital’s EP team currently sees about 1,730 patient visits like Chappell’s per year.
Unfortunately, Chappell found he was back in AFib after a month or two. “I had a serious bout of AFib that lasted a few days,” he said. He called Dr. Khoo’s office, and St. B cardiologist Dr. Alexander Tischenko later performed his AV node ablation procedure in September.
“Since then, I’ve had no further issues,” he said. “Dr. Khoo told me, the battery in my pacemaker will last me for ten years. That’s positive thinking because I’m 80. Do you think you’re going to change my battery when I’m 90? That sounds good to me,” he laughed.
Volunteering an option again
Chappell is grateful for the treatment he received at Manitoba’s Cardiac Centre of Excellence at St. B. He mentioned he wanted his gift to go primarily to cardiac research at the Hospital.
“The main thing is, I’m able to make an appointment and stick with it. I know this AFib thing isn’t going to level me,” he explained. “I now enjoy volunteering with Victoria Lifeline clients, and with Community Financial Counselling Services, which does tax returns free of charge for people with moderate incomes.”
“I can make commitments and stick with them; I can do what I enjoy.”
“There are a lot of people who endure these heart conditions, even if they’re not necessarily all life-threatening,” he finished. “If my story helps them to have hope and helps St. Boniface Hospital researchers to find more reasons for hope – if my gift can contribute to that – I feel very honoured to be able to do so.”