Stories
& news
that heals.
Keeping the Beat
November 18, 2024 The call came out of nowhere: “You’re in serious heart failure, Dean. You need to get to St. Boniface Hospital.” Dean Desrochers and his wife, Jenn, were in their Wolseley home getting ready to go to a surprise party for his friend’s 50th birthday...
Tiny Dancer
October 8, 2024 As a new parent, you expect to be able to hold and cuddle your baby. The instinct is written in all our hearts. Kelly and Corey Burtnyk, of Sage Creek in Winnipeg, felt it. But they had to wait three days before they could even pick up their only...
Your Support Keeps Innovation Beating
June 24, 2024 Your unwavering support fuels cutting-edge innovation and compassionate care within the Hospital’s walls. Albert McMurdie, of Winnipeg, felt that innovation and care firsthand when he made history by undergoing the first same-day transcatheter aortic...
Making Dad Twice as Proud
The H & H Shah Family of Winnipeg are helping St. Boniface Hospital Foundation donors love and honour their own dads, granddads, and father-figures this Father’s Day by matching gifts to the Hospital. For the second year in a row Hemant M. Shah, wife Hina, and...
A Bad Day at the Office
February 15, 2024 Darlene Sorin, of Lockport, has a saying. “It’s never good to have a heart attack. But if you do have one, St. Boniface Hospital is the best place to be.” Her saying comes from experience, after she had a STEMI heart attack, the most serious kind, at...
Silver linings after atypical symptoms
January 16, 2024 Former St. Boniface Hospital patient Alex Fedorchuk learned that heart attacks don’t always look and feel like they do in movies. In March of 2022, Fedorchuk felt like he couldn’t get a big breath in. He noticed that for the past little while,...
When Your Need Is a Miracle
Sandy Conrad will never forget the Sunday afternoon last year when she found her husband of almost 50 years, Paul, unconscious and taking his last breaths on top of their bed. If it had not been for St. Boniface Hospital donors, his life might have ended then and...
Surviving SCAD
November 1, 2023 Patti LeBlanc, of Winnipeg, didn’t think that lifting a crockpot would send her into an ambulance. But on December 22, 2015, that’s just what happened. LeBlanc, 49, was loading up her car for a church potluck when she was hit with alarming sensations....
From heart attack recovery to marathon runner
October 10, 2023 While on a trek to Mount Everest base camp in 2006, Paul Bernardin, of Winnipeg, unknowingly experienced his first heart attack. He was just 49 years old. At an elevation of about 15,000 feet, Bernardin felt a sudden soreness in his jaw, arms, and...
“This can’t be a heart attack”
September 26, 2023 Slumped on a kitchen chair, Christie Klassen’s first thought was, “This can’t be a heart attack.” She was healthy and 39 years old. Her next thought was, “Please, God, don’t let Noah respond to this call.” Klassen lives with her husband and their...
A world of difference for very ill newborns
Dr. Yasser El-Sayed (right) receives Duhamel Award honorarium from Karen Fowler, St. Boniface Hospital Foundation President & CEO. June 16, 2023 It was only fitting this year’s recipient of the Ronald J. Duhamel Innovation Award (Duhamel Award) could not be on...
Mother praises video app that connects parents with babies in NICU
May 9, 2023 What started as a pilot project two and half years ago is now a popular app that keeps parents connected with their babies staying in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St. Boniface Hospital. vCreate Diaries is a secure video app that allows neonatal...