Hi, my name is Brittney and I am John Irwins daughter. I am here asking the help of the general public on behalf of my father, who is someone so selfless and kind hearted and non-deserving of the tragedy that has occurred.

On June 27 2022, my father (64) went in to the Thunder Bay Regional Hospital for a scheduled angiogram. When he turned 60 a few years prior, he had a successful quadruple bypass in Toronto. From that time to last spring, he was not set up with a cardiologist locally. He was doing his own due dilligence, booking local appoitments to make sure his health was up to par. He had scheduled the angiogram as one of the appoitments. An angiogram is where a long thin-like tube or catheter is inserted into an artery and is threaded through blood vessels to the heart. They were checking for any blockages, The operation is supposed to feel almost painless, or in some cases may be some discomfort in the chest. He could feel a pain shooting down his back into his legs and began screaming in agony while on the operating table. Someone who has such a high pain tolerance could not hold in his voice as excruciating pain ran through his back into his legs. Slowly within 24 hours he started losing all feeling and functions below his waist. He is completely paralyzed from the waist-down. He has very very minimal, if any movements. The cardiologist could only explain this being a 1 in a million phenomenon of odds happening, and actually worded that he would have had better odds being struck by lightning twice in a row. They went back and watched the recording of the procedure, still not understanding what went wrong, just that it caused a spinal stroke. Normally after a stroke (or depending on the type of stroke you have), a doctor would determine whether you can be offered TPA, a thrombolytic, or a "clot buster" drug to break up the clot that is causing the blockage or the paralysis..but they could not see from what they went back and watched if there was any blockages and did not know what caused the paralysis or stroke. So my dad never recieved that drug. We dont know going back if it would have helped or not, but he was willing to try anything. He was desperate for someone to help, he was asking for experimental treatments, to get sent anywhere- he just wanted to be fixed and helped (which is why he went in for the appoitment to begin with to make sure he was healthy). It caused permanent and irreversible damage. He got moved into St Josephs Care a few weeks after the incident after the hospital realized that there was nothing they could do for him here, as spinal strokes are extremely rare- research says of all strokes only 0.3-1% are spinal. Our hospital was not equipped to deal with one. Us as a family rallied and tried our hardest to get him sent out of town, but our efforts were powerless and we did not succeed. As I am writing this for my dad on May 28, he has been in a hospital bed now for 335 days and counting. He has been back and forth from the local regional hospital, back to St Joes again as complications keep arising since this has happened. He has not left to go anywhere besides scheduled appoitments with local specialists. Besides that, he has not seen anything more than beyond the hospital grounds. He has developed severe sores that are deep to the bone, and half a foot in length that have had him on antibiotics almost this whole time. Some are causing abscesses deep inside from infection. This whole thing has been nothing but tragic and heart-wrenching for him, and those who love him. But most of all him.

My father was a fairly active person, especially for his age. After his surgery on his heart went well, he really started wanting to live his life to the fullest. He enjoyed riding his electric bike everywhere, only using the electric aspect on big hills. He ran a small towing business "Single Dads Towing", in which he worked for himself after retiring over a decade ago, which he ran a little ad in the local newspaper for. He enjoys classic cars and had a few he loved doing restorations on. He was social and enjoyed coffee at the local Westfort neighborhood coffee shop daily, as well as frequenting a bar (his favourite spot the Wayland) sometimes on weekends just for the social aspect of getting himself out of the house. John is so extremely social that in fact, most people in the community know of his name, or have had some sort of interacation with him, or a story to share. He was the hardest working person I still to this day know, where he would never take a day off. Using his towtruck and his mechanical skills, he would help anybody in need to find a good reliable car, and also sometimes not even charge them a thing for it while also doing any work he was capable of doing that was required. The last 5 years or so (not including 2023) he hosted a Christmas party at his house, spending hours on end preparing food and was open to everyone, especially those that were alone without any family. The kind of person who would never ask for anything in return except maybe say "if you see me around get me a coffee or a beer the next time you see me", and never expect anything in return. He was also the kind of person who would pick hitchhikers up (when driving alone for the safety of his family). A handful of years ago, he found this man broken down on the side of the highway in a BWM and gave him a place to stay while his car parts had to be ordered in, and also did the work on it for him. He was and is still always doing what he can do help others in need. My father is such a kind-hearted, generous, giving and just all around PURE human being. He loves his family unconditionally. He would put his words he could not say into poetry, and started sharing his love for it in a facebook group he titled "My Sunday Mournings".

My dad is the world to me, and I would love to try to show him that his actions do not and have not gone unnoticed. Not just by me, but hopefully the public as a whole who have encountered him. It has been beyond heartbreaking to watch the days and the months go by and see his spirit drift further, and further away.

In order for him to come home, his house needs to be retrofitted to be able to accommodate his needs as he is paralyzed from the waist down. I would like to get the help to make this possible for him. He does not qualify for subsidies or any funding, so things as little as compression socks have to come out of pocket for his needs. He will be needing transportation for himself, lifts, ramps, as well as a hospital bed just to name a few. He also requires home care to assist with his daily living. St Jospephs is having talks of sending him to an old age facility, as his house is not completed, and that would be detrimental to his state of mind and well being. Being back in his own home, close to family and friends would give him back a sense of independance. The money funded will be used for all necessary equipment needed, the completion of retrofitting his home and all daily living expenses.

I hope I gave some bit of insight and perspective as to who my father, John Irwin is as a person. Losing his independance has been difficult and at times, degrading. It has been close to a year since he has been confined to small space shared with three other strangers with no privacy. I see my dads personality and hope fading away as the days and months pass. Any donations, big or small, would be greatly appreciated in order to get my dad home promptly. Thank you for your time, kindness and generosity.

Thank you

His daughter