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In 1974, the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (now CHEO) was merely an infant, six months old and filling up with children transferred from adult hospitals in the region.
When on Grey Cup Sunday, Nov. 24, 15-month-old Nicole Gibeau arrived in an ambulance from Arnprior, just west of Ottawa. Nicole wasn’t eating or sleeping and her parents, Terry and Beth, were told an ambulance would take her to CHEO.
The young couple had never heard of it. The ambulance driver, when told to take Nicole to CHEO, had heard of a new children's hospital but didn’t know where it was. Of course, GPS didn't exist yet.
“We went ahead of the ambulance and when we arrived at CHEO, the medical team was waiting outside and asked: ‘Where’s the baby?” Beth, who was in her mid-20s at the time, recalled.
The ambulance driver had got lost. Beth and Terry were worried.
Nicole did eventually arrive at CHEO and a series of tests diagnosed her with haemophilus influenzae, which her parents had also never heard of. It’s an infection caused by a certain type of bacteria, which can live in various parts of the body, but mostly the nose and throat.
The infection caused Nicole to lose a lot of weight and affected her hearing. Almost half a century later, her parents still fight tears recalling those difficult, scary days with their first-born child.
“We thought we were going to lose her,” Beth said.
Then, on the inaugural Christmas Day at CHEO, Nicole sat up and smiled, following a surgery that relieved pressure behind her ears.
She couldn’t walk after the procedure, but she was able to celebrate Christmas in her hospital bed with gifts and food brought by her aunt and cousins, Beth said.
A few months later, Nicole was walking again, although unsteady. She would be diagnosed with permanent hearing loss at age four, but her mom says Nicole eventually learned to live with the condition.
Today, Nicole is an active 50-year-old who lives with her family in Ottawa, including her two children, and has competed in triathlons for Canada.
Nicole wanted to relay this message to CHEO staff working in the fall and winter of 1974: “I’m having a great life. Thank you so much for keeping me alive and getting us through.”
Beth, meanwhile, remembers how the medical staff were patient and kind and helped her understand what was going on with her first-born child.
She said they “took the fear out of it.”
“They were a huge family support all around. The generosity of their spirit ... because they were so busy. I can’t even describe to you how busy it was on that ward as they brought new children in because some of these kids were very sick.”
Beth and Terry have become more familiar with CHEO. First during Nicole’s follow-up visits, then with three of their other children, and recently with some of the grandchildren.
As CHEO celebrates its 50th birthday in 2024, the staff, medical staff, learners and volunteers have shown from day one the power of their passion, dedication and can-do spirit to help patients and their families.