Marc remembers the day well—it was a cold, dark, and snowy Monday morning in Resolute Bay, Nunavut—one of the northernmost communities in Canada. A remote town he refers to as, “the last stop for hot water and a meal.”
It was Health Week in Resolute Bay, an initiative to promote wellness and engagement for the community of about 200 residents. As manager of the local inn, Marc faced one of his busiest weeks, with visitors arriving and a packed schedule of events. While preparing for a busy day ahead, he experienced an intense and persisting pain in his chest. He called his co-worker to say he was going to lay down and wouldn’t be opening for lunch. She insisted on taking him to the local health centre—an offer Marc admits he normally would have refused.
Within minutes of arriving, a nurse practitioner hooked him up to an Electrocardiogram (ECG). With no doctors in Resolute Bay, the results were sent to the hospital in Iqaluit, where a physician quickly diagnosed a heart attack.
That evening, Marc was flown to the University of Ottawa Heart Institute where he received a stent and spent several weeks recovering. After discharge, he remained in Ottawa—his original home—where he still had an apartment.
The following year was filled with cardiology appointments, a long list of medications, and frequent bloodwork. But despite everything, his condition wasn’t improving. His prognosis was grim. That’s when he heard the words “heart transplant” for the first time. “A transplant hadn’t even crossed my mind—I still felt invincible,” he recalls. At 54 years old, Marc wasn’t ready to give up, and he agreed to be placed on the transplant waitlist.
Marc was told to keep his phone close. He slept, ate, and showered with it by his side until one day, the call came: “Marc, we have a heart.” Overwhelmed, he couldn’t speak and handed the phone to his dad. The next morning, he was wheeled into the operating room where he received the gift of life.
Today, Marc’s perspective has completely changed. “How I look at people and relationships—if I’m not healthy, I can’t help anyone else.” Now, he is the primary caregiver for his parents who are both facing serious health challenges. “I was going to die, and now I’m alive. I survived so I could make sure my parents had a decent end-of-life. We’re lucky to have each other.”
Marc knows he wouldn’t have lived much longer without a new heart. He has no words to describe how he feels knowing his donor’s decision to register saved his life. “Gratitude is an understatement. I hope my story inspires others to register and save lives.”
Register today at BeADonor.ca