I give because the staff are outstanding!
Jacinthe remembers as if it were yesterday . . . The day everything could have gone sideways. The ambulance in front of the house. The worried look in the eyes of her youngest, who’d just turned 5. And then the race against time, tests, decisions made in seconds. “It’s thanks to a committed, professional, sharp-minded and rigorous cardiologist that I’m here today.”
Jacinthe was suffering a heart attack. She was only 39 years old. She recalls, with emotion, the responsiveness of the medical teamsin that pulled out all the stops to understand what was wrong. This medical vigilance saved her life later on, when she was diagnosed with cancer, now in remission, at the age of 63. “They didn’t just help me. They helped my kids, my family. Care extends beyond the patient . . . it encompasses the entire family!”. For Jacinthe, receiving treatment meant giving her children—and now her grandchildren—the chance to have her in their lives.
The Hospital, where her five children were born, was never simply a health care facility for Jacinthe. “Every time I entered the Hospital, I was treated like a queen.” Whether at emergency, in cardiology, gynecology or oncology, she always met skilled and profoundly human teams. “They don’t just see a hospital number. They see the person behind it, and an entire team mobilizes around you.”
In gratitude and deep recognition, Jacinthe has become a monthly donor. “I give because the staff are outstanding,” she repeats with conviction. For her, monthly giving is a simple gesture with a profound impact: a way of helping teams excel, upgrade their knowledge and obtain tools. “If we’re able to get sophisticated equipment . . . or offer education to help patients . . . well, at least I’ll have contributed.”
Her donation is also a gesture of love for her friends and family and for current and future patients at the Hospital. “If my family or friends go to the Hospital, I want them to be cared for the way I was, or maybe even better.” And even though she’ll never know who benefitted from her donations, she’s just fine with that: “Even if they’re people I don’t know, it makes me happy.”
Through her testimony, Jacinthe hopes to inspire others to give. Because behind every donation there’s a story, a family, a future to protect, just like hers was. She’d like to thank all of the teams at the Hospital: “To each and every team member: a huge thank you. You’re vigilant, rigorous, remarkable professionals. Thanks to you, I’m still here. I can never thank you enough . . . but it’s in my heart.”
She wishes donations would fall from the sky so that there’d be enough money to fund research, equipment and teaching.
