On Thursday, January 29, 2026, Colin MacDougall started to experience worsening bouts of chest pain and drove himself to the Strait Richmond Hospital, where he later suffered a heart attack and had to be airlifted to the QEII Hospital in Halifax for further treatment. It was determined that he needs to have open-heart surgery to conduct a triple bypass. He has been moved from the ICU to the ICCU and is awaiting surgery on a long list of patients in need of emergency care.

Anyone who knows my dad knows that he never takes a day off. He is always on, always hard-working, and always making time to go out of his way for those he cares about, and folks he doesn’t know at all. As a self-employed fixture of the village of St. Peter’s, the community of Richmond County, and beyond, he has been donating his time, volunteering, making artwork—a picture, a banner, something—for someone in need consistently and constantly since forever, and especially in the last 30 years. He knows more people than anyone I have ever crossed, and he has been known to give the shirt off his back a time or two, or twenty. It pains him to be stuck in a hospital bed after putting in half a day’s work in his OneOfAKind Design Studio on Thursday. He worries about the people whose shirts he didn’t get done or passport photos he has yet to process. It’s hard for my sister, sister-in-law, friends, his family, and especially my mum to see him like this. Just last week, he was hanging pictures for me in my apartment, jumping off a stepladder with the pep of a 16-year-old.

I made this GoFundMe for him to hopefully set aside a little extra cushioning to support him through the likely long couple of weeks in and out of the hospital. As well as for my mom, his wife, who, when she is not caring for others as a Continuing Care RN in their homes, will be caring for him in the weeks and months to come in ours.

Anything you can donate would be beyond appreciated. He is loved and cared for by so many, and this is only a bonus to your loving and supportive messages, phone calls, and visits. He and we are beyond grateful for the ways folks have been showing their care this week. Even if you are unable to donate, feel free to send him a Facebook message to let him know you’re thinking of him. Your words mean so much!

Special thank you to the folks at the Strait Richmond Hospital; the staff and paramedics driving the earth and sky ambulances; QEII nurses and doctors; Cathy Cotton; Beth Groom and family; Ruth Frost-Cameron; Alex Pâté; Marty MacDougall and Ross Ferguson; and many more. Here’s hoping he’s back bopping around town in a couple of months.