Help James recover from heart surgery

In mid-February, James underwent a long-awaited, major, open heart surgery to treat the symptoms of his genetic chronic illness, a serious case of hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. HCM is a condition that leads to an unnatural thickening of the heart wall. We are relieved to say that the surgery has been a success. However, James did experience complications from the surgery including ongoing Atrial Fibrillation that has led to him staying in the ICU for longer than expected, needing weeks of continuous care at home, and being re-admitted to the hospital through the emergency room multiple times.

In the weeks since his surgery, James and his partner Kate have incurred high costs as they went through a long stay in Vancouver to stay near the surgical hospital, have taken unpaid time off work, and have been paying for additional uncovered ambulance and medication costs. Kate has been required to take extended leave from work to monitor James' symptoms and care for him, meaning their entire household has been living with a heavily reduced income for over a month.

This resilient couple has been doing an incredible job advocating for James' health in a healthcare system that is over-capacity and struggles to treat people with complex conditions. Despite this, they are struggling to balance staying afloat financially with making sure that James gets the support he needs. We are hoping to raise some money to help James and Kate pay their bills over the coming weeks until James is well enough to recover without continuous hospital or home care.

For those who don't know James, he is a deeply kind, good person who brightens the lives of those around him. His deep desire to care for all the people in his life can make it hard for him to ask for help. He is the father of two awesome boys, one of whom has special needs. He's also a deeply supportive friend, and a perpetual optimist in the face of many rounds of bad luck with his health. We hope you'll join us in doing what we can to tide this sweetheart over for a few weeks to help him get back to his energetic and abundant approach to life.