A beloved Canadian hockey icon and doctor spent the day in Sarnia to hold meet-and-greets and tour Bluewater Health, ahead of a sold-out fundraising gala.
The Bluewater Health Foundation Gala, scheduled for Thursday evening at the Badger Hangar at Chris Hadfield Airport, was expecting 400 people in attendance.
Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser was announced as the gala’s keynote speaker in March.
Foundation Executive Director Kathy Alexander said this was the fastest sell-out to take place in gala history, which has technically been held for over 10 years (but with a brief pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
The Olympic gold medalist and current member of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization said it has been about 15 years since she’s been to Sarnia but has always enjoyed visiting smaller communities.
Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser signs a Hockey Canada jersey. May 18, 2023. (Photo by Natalia Vega)
During a gathering at the hospital, some people became emotional when they met Wickenheiser as she took the time to sign autographs, pose for pictures, and briefly chat.
Wickenheiser said coming out of the pandemic, it’s been hard on the health care sector, which is why she agreed to help the foundation with the gala.
“In small communities, you need to be able to count on your resources and you need to have those resources, especially if you’re far from major centres,” Wickenheiser said. “So I think it’s really important to raise money for hospitals and foundations, like Bluewater, and just to continue to show the community that it matters; and when you need them, they are there. Often, we don’t realize how much we need people until the moment of truth or something goes wrong.”
Ahead of her gala speech, Wickenheiser shared her overall message: to adapt, control what you can, and help each other.
“One of the things I talk about is, it’s one thing to be the best in the world, it’s another to be the best for the world,” she said. “I think what I’ve seen in the pandemic, in the last few years inside health care, is people who have really gone above and beyond.”
Wickenheiser said she had wanted to be a doctor since a very young age and knew she would need a plan following her professional playing career.
“So I shadowed a lot, when I was playing, with emergency room [doctors] that I knew in Calgary,” she said. “I knew right away that that was kind of the environment that I wanted to be in.”
Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser during meet and greet at Sarnia hospital. May 18, 2023. (Photo by Natalia Vega)
The two career paths of medicine and sport share some similarities; as Wickenheiser described, they are both “a team game.”
“Everything that I learn in sport, I use every single day inside medicine, and things that I learn in medicine, I use in my work with the Toronto Maple Leafs, with the players that I work with every day,” she said. “It’s an interesting contrast because I’ll often be in the emergency room throughout the night and then I go to the rink in the morning and I may have seen some tough stuff that night, and the problems at the rink don’t seem so big. But perspective is everything.”
Wickenheiser laughed at how the two careers will often intertwine when she cares for a player rinkside.
“One of the players the other day for the Marlies said to me, ‘I didn’t know you were a doctor until you were stitching that guy’s face up,'” she said. “I have from time to time, had players get hit by pucks and I’ve just been right there so I stitch them up really quickly… and if they don’t know, they always look at me very funny.”
During her time in Sarnia, Wickenheiser also stopped by Progressive Auto Sales Arena to meet young players.
Alexander said funds raised through the gala will support the cancer care redevelopment project, on the second floor of the Sarnia hospital.
“We’re seeing increased numbers of people in our community diagnosed and living with cancer and receiving their treatment at Bluewater Health, and our space needs to be designed in a way that’s more conducive to the experience and the environment that our patients and their families need and deserve,” said Alexander.
The redevelopment project, priced at approximately $3.7 million, will be fully funded by the Bluewater Health Foundation.
Although Alexander couldn’t give an exact total of how much the gala will raise, since auctions and other events will take place Thursday night, she expects the end result to be over $80,000.
