Henry Duff was 14 months old when he was airlifted from his local hospital in Saint John, New Brunswick, to the IWK in June 2022. He was fighting a trifecta of common viruses and was in respiratory failure.
Henry arrived at the IWK during the early morning hours and was immediately placed on a CPAP machine to help keep his airway open. By that evening, he needed to be intubated and put on a ventilator because he was very sick and weak. The ventilator would not only help him breathe, but it would allow his lungs to rest.
Thankfully, after spending three days on the ventilator, Henry began to recover and was well enough to return home – just eight days after he was airlifted to the IWK.
“The care was absolutely amazing,” says Deanna, Henry’s mom. “The measures they went through to make sure that Henry was safe. I felt like they went above and beyond.”
In November 2022, Henry returned to the IWK to undergo a tonsillectomy, a surgery to remove his tonsils. Henry’s care team had discovered that his tonsils were so big that they blocked his airway, making it hard to breathe.
“Ever since his surgery, he has been breathing so much easier,” shares Deanna.
Henry’s grandmother, Margo, was so moved and thankful for Henry’s care at the IWK that she wanted to do something to give back.
“My mother-in-law wanted to honour what the IWK did for us in our time of need, so she made a quilt,” explains Deanna. “It says, ‘You are my sunshine’ on it, and she put a little Big Bird on there because Henry loves Sesame Street.”
Margo sold raffle tickets on the quilt and donated the proceeds – an incredible $4,000 – from ticket sales to the IWK Foundation. These vital funds will support the urgent priorities of the IWK, including the purchase of new and advanced medical equipment, funding programs or leading-edge research or upgrading care spaces and technology.
