You know how sometimes you grow up with people whose impact on you just stays with you over the years?
Their kindness, their love of life, their positive energy…
Lyn and her brother, Erik, had a friend like that; her name was Darcy.
Darcy was born with Down’s Syndrome and was not expected to live past 20 years of age. Despite being born without the ball of both femurs, she learned to walk and went on to live a very active and full life! She graduated from Moses Lake High School in 1979, one of the first special needs students to be awarded a modified diploma; Darcy loved participating in the Special Olympics, bowling, softball and her beloved Seattle Mariners. She was a special aunt and great-aunt to several nieces and nephews.
Darcy passed away in 2018 (at the age of 58!), but her name is now constantly spoken at our Base Hospital located at the Jerry Coughlan Health & Wellness Centre.
That’s because, in honour of Darcy and their friendship, Lyn made a generous donation to fund a down syndrome training manikin for Lakeridge Health’s Central East Prehospital Care Program (aka Base Hospital).
While varied amongst patients, a few common physical traits of some children who have Down syndrome are low muscle tone, a difficult airway for intubation, smaller stature, gapping in the toes, almond-shaped eyes, a single deep crease across the centre of the palm, smaller hands and feet – all of which are accurately represented in this beautiful training manikin. Darcy’s skin even feels incredibly realistic, and inserting IVs can be practiced without damaging it or leaving lasting impressions.
By incorporating true-to-life training scenarios that represent the diversity of our community, the approximately 2,000 firefighter’s from 18 services and around 1,700 paramedics from six services (Durham, Haliburton, Kawartha Lakes, Peterborough, York and Northumberland) who come to our Base Hospital for training are even better equipped to care for our community.
Thank you Lyn for keeping Darcy’s spirit alive; she could be saving countless lives!
Pictured:
top – with Darcy (L-R), Joe (Base Hospital trainer), Rita, Sandy & Erik (Lyn’s brother and sister-in-law), Lyn and Jennifer (Base Hospital)
middle – Darcy’s wrist with her personally-made friendship bracelet with her name on it
bottom – Joe (Base Hospital trainer) talking to Lyn and her family about Darcy
