A St. Albert family is grateful to this community after almost $100,000 was raised to help those in palliative care in the Grey Nuns hospital.
Local resident Leslie Gierulski knows palliative care well, or, more accurately, her late daughter Krista Sims knew it. Diagnosed with cervical cancer in April 2009, Krista died the following March. The last months of her life were spent with her family visiting her and staying with her in palliative care in the Grey Nuns Community Hospital in Edmonton.
There is only one palliative care bed in St. Albert, hence most local residents needing this caring service go into Edmonton.
Gierulski said she tried to make her daughter’s remaining months of life as pleasant as possible, but certain limitations always bothered her. For one, the state of the palliative care rooms in the Grey Nuns. Compared to the maternity rooms, which Gierulski described as “unbelievable,” the palliative care rooms were sparse, with little extra room for family to stay.
When a loved one is in palliative care, family want to spend as much time as possible together, Gierulski said. Sometimes there isn’t even an extra bed for family to stay overnight, and this created problems not only for Gierulski, but for Krista’s husband and three young children who wanted to be near their mom.
“So I wanted to help raise money for some comfortable family overnight beds,” she told the Gazette. “I thought, why don’t we re-do a room and call it the Krista Sims room?”
Once the idea was floated to the Grey Nuns people, they liked it. They liked it enough that they mentioned having only one family-friendly palliative care room was a shame, and it would be great to have many. So Gierulski re-thought her strategy.
“We decided we were going to go bigger and go all-out and re-do all 21 rooms in (palliative care unit 43) in the Grey Nuns Hospital,” said Gierulski. “Because, you know something? They can give all the care, but esthetics mean so much.”
Krista’s friends quickly jumped at the idea of raising funds in her name, and formed a new organization, Clitar Heroes Foundation, with the goal of raising enough money to re-do the palliative care rooms. They held a fundraising evening in March right here in St. Albert. Gierulski said the Kinsmen stepped up in a major way, donating their facility, volunteering at the event, donating funds and covering expenses.
“They were so amazing, and there were plenty of other amazing people too,” said Gierulski.
She said a silent auction raised much of the funds and local businesses were extremely supportive.
“The St. Albert businesses were so generous,” said Gierulski. “They all said ‘that’s a great cause.’”
The funds raised, almost $100,000, were donated in person to the Grey Nuns Hospital July 24. Planning is already underway for the 2014 event.
Gierulski said she along with Krista’s family and friends are overjoyed to know the young mom and wife will be linked with something that eases suffering and brings peace to people by allowing them to feel at home with their loved ones, without reminding them they’re in a hospital room.
“My daughter always said she didn’t want to die in a hospital room,” added Gierulski.
More information is available online at www.clitarheroes.com.
