My name is Vera and I am thrilled, along with my family, to be a small part of taking the Transforming Tomorrow - Diagnostic Imaging Campaign, to the next level.

When I was asked about being an ambassador of the Campaign, I immediately said yes as I know how important this is for our community here in St. Thomas & Elgin County.

It is so important for us to honour our son, Tyler, by telling his story in support of our hospital.

As you can imagine, it’s hard to sum up one person’s life in just a few paragraphs and if you’d like, I’ll talk your ear off about Tyler as alittle boy, about his time working for the railroad.

But that’s not why we’re here. We’re here because we all care about making change for our community. We all believe in the importance of more care, closer to home.

I know that would have made a big difference for Tyler and our entire family when he was ill.

Tyler was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2014, and after the shock of that diagnosis wore off, we rallied around him in all the ways you can imagine. Our whole family went to every appointment - there were 8 of us squeezed into the exam rooms, and there were never enough chairs for us all.

A diagnosis like that requires so much medical intervention, and we are grateful for the care he received. The treatment required constant MRIs, more than 40 in fact over his almost 5-year battle with cancer. This required frequent trips to London for every one of those appointments, no matter the weather or time of day

That travel when he was already so ill was an incredible burden. If he had d been able to do that closer to home, it would have made a huge impact on his quality of care and that of us, his family.

Any time you have to travel for care, it’s more time, more costs, and more stress in an already incredibly stressful time. I mean, it’s really the last thing you need when you’re going through a difficult illness.

Tyler, from a very young age, was always on the go. He tried to pack as much as he could into every day, whether it was sports or traveling or spending time with family and friends. It was almost like he knew his time was going to be shorter than most.

He openly shared his health journey, speaking to other cancer patients and through his own blog, as a way to inspire and support others going through cancer. That is why we are proud to continue sharing his story with you today, in the hope that other families won’t have the added stress and burden of traveling for care like we did.

That’s why I am so pleased to be supporting this campaign.

When I first learned that there are 5,000 people a year driving or being transported, when they’re sick, to London or other communities to get the scans and to help STEGH staff determine the right course of treatment, I was shocked.

Our story matters, but so do the 4,999 other stories each year.

So that’s why I’m here. To ask all of our friends, family, neighbours, colleagues and businesses to support the Transforming Tomorrow campaign.