Shashwat Agarwal is an operator on D crew at Bruce B. His son, Daksh was Born on 11th May 2022 via C-Section in Owen Sound and started choking every 30 mins after his birth. After spending hours to find out what’s going on with Daksh, Pediatric specialist found out that he needed an urgent surgery to save his life. Daksh was airlifted to London a few hours after he was born to undergo surgery. It was an emotional and difficult time for Shashwat and his wife to deal with the immediate separation from their new born son. The first surgery did not go as expected. Daksh required recovery time before a second operation could be attempted. Last week the second operation was completed but the results were not what they expected. Daksh will have to undergo a third procedure when the Pediatric Radiologist and the Pediatric Surgery team are comfortable going ahead with this.

Daksh has a condition called esophageal atresia . In babies with esophageal atresia, the esophagus doesn’t connect correctly to the stomach. This malformation can cause choking and breathing problems. It prevents all food from reaching the stomach after swallowing. Esophageal atresia is a congenital disability (birth defect), which means that it forms during a baby’s development before birth. It often occurs with another problem called tracheoesophageal fistula. A fistula is an unusual connection in your body. With a tracheoesophageal fistula, the esophagus connects to the trachea (windpipe) instead of the stomach.

Shashwat, his wife and their toddler have been staying in London to care for Daksh. With this unexpected emergency to deal with he has been exhausting his vacation, banked time and family days to deal with unexpected emergencies. Shashwat has gone on critical care leave that allows for time off from work to care for his Son. Critical Care leave provides Shashwat with access to EI payments for up to 37 weeks, at which time he can start parental leave to provide the extensive care that Daksh will require for the first year of his life. Shashwat now has expenses related to Daksh’s stay in London for the foreseeable future. Critical care leave is not topped up and Shashwat will need assistance for his expenses related to his son’s illness.

While no one can remedy the mental and emotional suffering of Shashwat and his Wife, we can try to alleviate the financial stresses so Shashwat can focus on his family.