I did my first-ever blood work on a pig. My first IV was for the neighbour’s dairy cow. I’ve immunized more piglets than I can count. Growing up on an Okanagan farm, you learn a lot. Not everyone loves farm life, but I feel lucky to have had the experience. My parents were super for giving us that opportunity as kids.
Anyone who knows me knows that family comes first. My husband and I now have children and grandchildren of our own spread across BC, and we commonly go on “provincial tours”, as we like to call them, to visit everybody. I cherish that time together, and I don’t take it for granted.
Back on the farm as a teenager, tragedy struck for two different children from families we were close with. Seeing the aftermath of those experiences filled me with a desire to make a difference. To give other families the opportunity for different outcomes. That is what ultimately led me to my role now, as a Pediatric Nurse Clinician.
“Anyone who knows me knows that family comes first.”
On paper, here at Victoria General Hospital’s Pediatric Oncology Clinic, I work with kids who are undergoing cancer treatment or those with blood disorders; however, over 37 years of pediatric medicine has taught me that the best care is never just about the patient.
Everyone comes from a family, and when someone is sick, the whole family is affected. Having been through hospital journeys with my own family, I can tell you that this applies whether the patient is 80, or 18 months. When your loved one is on the receiving end of healthcare, you can feel so maxed out. You want answers, you want access, you want strategies, and you want them as uncomplicated as possible. I have the real privilege of working with families in these deeply vulnerable moments, giving them the support and tools needed not only to survive, but to thrive.
Nobody wants to be far from home when they’re dealing with health issues. That’s one of the reasons we are so lucky to have the specialized care that we do on Vancouver Island. With 26 miles of ocean between us and the next area of specialty service, having the resources our kids need here on the Island is all the more vital. Fortunately, thanks to the generous support of people and organizations in our community like KidsRun and our local firefighters, we can provide, urgent, acute, and specialized care for nearly every case and keep Island families close to home.
I love Vancouver Island. My husband and I moved here in 1992 thinking we’d stay five years, and now it’s 2026. Even in all that time, I’ve only seen half as much of the Island as I’d like to; but, a few years ago, I got the opportunity to join Tour de Rock and bike all the way up north to Port Alice to raise money for cancer research. I love cycling, so it was an incredible opportunity to witness the beauty of our home, and the power of communities coming together to support each other.
To me, support for one another is a key part of being human. On a daily basis my dad used to say, “put yourself in somebody else’s shoes”. This simple adage has guided much of my healthcare career. It’s taking a minute as I sit with families in their hardest moments and asking myself, How would I navigate this if I were them? What would I need? It’s realizing that I, just like them, am not invincible and may find myself in the same situation some day down the line. It’s lending a humble helping hand, grateful that I have one to lend. It’s pulling together, because the best care is never just about the patient.
They are humans first, who put other humans first.
More than 8,900 caregivers and staff work around the clock in our Victoria Hospitals
#HumansFirst is dedicated to sharing the stories from behind our hospitals’ frontlines. These stories remind us that those who provide care and keep the lights on in our hospitals also have lives outside of them. They have family and friends, they enjoy hobbies and interests, and they have all lived through their own personal triumphs and heartbreaks. Like all of us, they are human, and they have a story to tell.
