LHSC Multi-Organ Transplant Program fundraiser to feature Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame member
From the top of the Canadian country music charts with the band Prairie Oyster, along with other musical icons, to a hospital bed fighting for his life. Veteran musician John P. Allen has many stories to tell. But perhaps none so gripping as the day he nearly died.
“I found out later that a male nurse, who was my nurse. He was on call. He came into the room and pushed everybody out of the way and hit me right in the chest about a dozen times, broke my ribs, but he got my heart to go boom, bulb, bulb, and it started. It turned over and started up again. Anyway, he saved my life,” Allen explained of a fateful day in hospital some years ago.
In 2018, Allen was diagnosed with a rare blood protein disease, leading to heart failure. In 2019, he was given the ultimate gift- a heart transplant.
“Somewhere, a family lost their young son, a lot younger than me. And they donated his organs and gave me a second chance at life,” he said.
Allen is the keynote speaker at this year’s edition of New Canvas of Life.
The event celebrates local artists and supports the London Health Sciences Centre Multi-Organ Transplant Program.
To date, the event has raised $315,000.
Event Co-chair Greg Wilkinson, a double transplant recipient himself, said money raised will be used for a video conferencing system for the transplant program.
“So what it will allow them to do is see images, data, test results, and combine experience with their colleagues around the world to have the best possible outcomes for a very, very limited resource, which is donated organs,” said Wilkinson.
According to organizers, the event includes live music and an art auction. Those taking part will also have the opportunity to “view the artwork created by transplant patients, donors, local artists and Canadian celebrities.”
New Canvas of Life takes place Tuesday, April 16, from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at 100 Kellogg Lane.
“If someone dies and donates their organs they can save eight lives. So that’s eight people waiting for a gift of life,” said Wilkinson.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Construction begins on LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa
Shovels have hit the ground for constuction on Canada's LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa.
B.C. man awarded $5,000 in damages in first-of-it-kind intimate image case
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.