Niagara Falls resident Miu was sleeping when she was suddenly awoken by her husband’s screams.

“It was early in the morning,” Miu remembers. “I came down to the kitchen, and there was Sylvain, his head and face covered in blood. I was scared, but I remembered my First Aid training and headed straight to the freezer to get him some ice.”

Miu learned that Sylvain had gotten up early to fix the panels on their pergola.

“It is not very high,” Sylvain explains. “But I needed to stand on a little aluminum ladder. I stood at the top, so I was fairly high up when the ladder failed. It bent, and I landed on my head from about 10 feet high.”

Sylvain was bleeding profusely and since the couple lives close to the Niagara Falls hospital, they decided to drive to the Emergency Department instead of calling an ambulance. When Miu and Sylvain arrived at the hospital, terrified by the amount of blood he was losing, they were seen by Triage Nurse Red, who met them with compassion and competence.

“We were so impressed and grateful for Nurse Red. “He was very patient and calm, and wanted to ensure we were okay,” says Miu.

Once Nurse Red completed his initial assessment and dressed Sylvain’s wound, the couple returned to the waiting room.

“We did have to wait there for quite some time,” Miu admits, “but our entire experience in the emergency department took about eight hours. I  think that is really good compared to the current provincial standards.”

Sylvain, who lived in Quebec for most of his life, feels the same way. “The wait times in Quebec are much worse. I think based on my experience there, I have a whole different level of appreciation.”

“I am grateful for the support, professionalism, effort and for every smile.”

“One of the nurses who helped us was Nurse May,” Miu says. “There was no break for her during the hours we were there. She was so busy. And yet, when she came to us, she still had a smiling face, spoke to us with a comforting voice and was just so caring. I really appreciated her.”

Sylvain needed a head CT and an X-Ray to ensure he had not broken anything.

“Thankfully, they found no injuries,” Sylvain says, adding that, unfortunately, with every scan, they do find something and this time, it was arthritis in his neck.

“So that is too bad,” he laughs, “but it’s the fun of getting old.” Sylvain did need several stitches and was impressed with the treatment by his Emergency Physician, Dr. Salim Ahmed.

“When we came back from the CT scan, I just tried to catch his eye,” Miu recalls. “He looked over to me, and when I signalled that we were back, he gave me an “OK” sign, and he came to us as soon as he was able to.”

“Here I was, interrupting him while he was trying to take notes on his computer, and yet he remained kind, responsive and caring. The staff in the emergency room that day was truly a model team, so while I was waiting, I saw the sign for Gifts of Gratitude and decided to donate. I can only imagine how difficult of a job that would be, and for them to still do it with a smile meant a great deal,  so I wanted to show my appreciation.”

While Sylvain has mostly recovered from his fall, some of his concussion symptoms linger.

“In terms of concentration, I am still not back to 100 percent,” he explains, “but hey, when you’re an old chicken, you lose feathers,” Sylvain chuckled.

Grateful for their care at the Emergency Department, the couple has added Niagara Health Foundation to the list of local charities they support.

“There is so much suffering right here in our communities,” says Miu, “so we try to invest in charities who help people in our hometown.”

“The hospital is a place we all benefit from,” Sylvain adds. “It makes sense to support it, and we were happy to do it. We will continue to donate to the Niagara Health Foundation in the future.”

“It is money well spent.”