THUNDER BAY – Eight years ago, when Chipp White was four, each night he’d ask his father to send his mother in to tuck him and his older brother in at night.
Not wanting to worry his sons, Jedd White made an excuse why she couldn’t. But after several nights, he told them the truth – their mother, Jessica, was in southern Ontario, awaiting open-heart surgery.
“At the time, I didn’t know. My Dad wanted it to be a secret,” the now 11-year-old Chipp said on Thursday at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, where the hospital foundation announced it had collected more than $71,000 on Giving Tuesday, $31,000 more than their $40,000 target.
“Then he told me the bad news, ‘Mom has gone away for surgery. Then every night I remember shedding a tear or two, because I was very sad. Then a week later me and my brother started to fear the worst, that she was never coming home.”
It was a heartbreaking realization for a four-year-old, who said he was thrilled to see such generosity earlier this week by the community, knowing the bulk of the money raised will be put toward purchasing equipment for the hospital’s soon-to-be-built cardiovascular surgery unit.
Chipp said he’s looking forward to the day cardiovascular surgery happens in Thunder Bay, as it would mean children like him wouldn’t have to be without their mother or father for weeks on end.
It hurt, he said.
“It would be different because it would be at home. We could come and visit her during this difficult time,” he said. “It wouldn’t have gotten a hole in our heart while she was getting her hole fixed.”
Chipp’s mother said it was tough being away from her family for so long, leaving two young children for her husband to look after solo for so long.
She said she was thrilled to see just how generous Thunder Bay is, giving so much in one day to the cardiovascular surgery program.
“It’s absolutely heartwarming,” she said. “I’m blown away at the community’s generosity. I’m very proud of our community and very thankful for such amazing support here in Thunder Bay.”
The Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation has fundraised about $12 million of the $14 million required by the province as the community’s share of the new surgery facility.
Of the $71,141 raised on Tuesday, $64,172 was directed toward the campaign, which will allow the foundation to purchase three open heart instrument trays to be used during heart surgery at the hospital.
Dave Grady, the NextGen cabinet member with the Our Hearts at Home campaign, was equally thrilled to see so much money being put toward such a great cause.
“I think it goes back to understanding as a whole, our community wants to take care of our community, which is really, really nice,” Grady said. “We saw it on Giving Tuesday, we’re seeing it as we’re going through this campaign, with a huge target.”
Donations to the Our Hearts at Home campaign are accepted online at www.healthsciencesfoundation.ca/Christmas, in person at the donation centre in the hospital’s first-floor lobby, by phone at 345-4673 or by mail.
