Tragedy leads to second chance at life, two families forever bonded
Tragedy leads to second chance at life, two families forever bonded
Two-year-old Ella Crosset loved to dance and celebrate Halloween. Her smile lit up a room, and brought joy to so many people.
But Ella passed away after a pool accident, and the pain of that loss was incomprehensible.
“Now I have to I have to plan for her a funeral instead of a birthday party, and that was it was really a lot,” Kristin Luckins recalled of the moments following her daughter’s death.
Through tragedy however, comes hope.
At the same time that Luckins was processing the loss of her daughter, Jamie Wallis, a woman she had known since they went to high school in Sarnia, Ont. had a son with a genetic disease that was progressively getting worse.
“The first year-and-a-half of his life was rough,” explained Wallis. “After that, we went through the process of going to SickKids and getting our diagnosis, getting the genetic testing, figuring out what was wrong with him, and what that meant for his path forward. Ultimately, he ended up going septic in February of 2019 and he lost his entire small intestine and part of his large intestine as well.”
Young Owen had been on the transplant list for over three years, and Luckins knew this — and through her grief she took action.
“For some reason I went up to the Trillium lady and I just said, ‘Can you look up on Wallis?’ I know he's on the list. And if you can see if maybe Ella is a match for him, then maybe something good can come out of it,” she said.
At this point Owen was having nutrients delivered directly into his heart through a central line, tubes running in and out of his body to sustain his life. Ella donated four of her organs to Owen, who now has a chance at a much improved life.
“We're just six months now post-transplant, and he's about to have his ostomy reversed and he's about to have his central line taken out. Those are two very, very, very big milestones in the transplant life, in his life, like this six-year-old that has been sick his whole life is about to be put back together,” Wallis said.
“I can see him grow,” Luckins said through tears. “And I know that that my baby girl did that. So that helps me a lot to get through her not being here anymore.”
On what would have been Ella’s third birthday, Kristin held a celebration of life. Owen was released from hospital in Toronto the same day, and they were able to make the drive to Sarnia in time to be there.
“That meant a lot because part of Ella was able to be there,” Luckins recounted of the Oct. 21 meeting. “So we have a really good relationship, and I'm so grateful for that because I think that's part of what I need to get through. This is now I know and I can see him thrive.”
Meanwhile Wallis said the two shared so many interests.
“They are kindred spirits. They are, they were always bonded. We all were always bonded. For Owen to be able to be there and for them to see, you know, the impact she had directly on this little boy who's running around causing mayhem, running on the stage and playing with the cotton candy machine and like he's got part of her,” she said.
Ella also donated her heart to another boy, and one person can change the life of up to eight people through organ donation, and countless more through tissue donation.
Bluewater Health was just awarded two honours in how they approach potential donors and had a 100 per cent rate last year.
Dr. Glenna Cuccarolo from Bluewater Health pleads with people to sign up for organ donation.
“It ensures that your wishes are taken into account at that time. And it also makes it a much more peaceful decision because the family knows that they're speaking your own personal wishes rather than trying to guess them at the time of a tragedy,” she said.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrested an 18-year-old man from the Saint-Laurent borough of Montreal on Thursday morning in connection with allegations of terrorism.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he feels it is his role to see the Safe Third Country Agreement upgraded, in order to make sure Canadians can continue to have confidence in Canada's immigration system.
Han Dong has announced he will be sitting as an independent MP after being the subject of allegations involving interference by China in Canadian affairs.
The largest recorded earthquake in Alberta's history was not a natural event, but most likely caused by disposal of oilsands wastewater, new research has concluded.
United States President Joe Biden is set to deliver a speech to Parliament on Friday, becoming the ninth president to address Canadians in Ottawa. Here's a look back at past presidential speeches and the eras that defined them.
A federal source says the coming budget will detail how the Liberals plan to go after hidden or unexpected consumer fees, following the United States announcing its own crackdown on these charges.
A group of lawyers is racing against the clock to get Canadian children and their foreign-born mothers onto a plane that will soon be dispatched to repatriate detainees from prison camps in northeast Syria.
Canada needs a 'Conservative renaissance,' former prime minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday, but he cautioned that Pierre Poilievre should wait until an election before telling Canadians how he might run the country.
The resurrection of Zellers is officially underway in Waterloo region with the Cambridge location opening its doors to a handful of eager fans who lined up ahead of the store's official reopening.
Two people are charged after an investigation by Windsor’s Drugs and Guns (DIGS) unit. Officers seized over $25,000 in cash and drugs from a home in the 1100 block of Church Street on Tuesday.
York Regional Police will hold a news conference Thursday morning when it's expected they will announce two more suspects wanted in the alleged attack of missing Ontario woman Elnaz Hajtamiri.
A Tottenham woman faces impaired driving charges for allegedly blowing four times over the legal limit after crashing into a vehicle in a school parking lot.
Ottawa police and the city of Ottawa have warned residents and visitors will see an increased police presence across the downtown core on Thursday and Friday, and there will be "significant traffic and transit disruptions" during the visit.
Emergency crews responded to the collision involving a pedestrian on Highway 105 near the Chem. Ditchfield intersection in Chelsea at approximately 5:15 p.m. Wednesday.
An Ontario mother and father say their four-year-old was recently diagnosed with a brain tumour after doctors believed his symptoms were a flu-like virus for months.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrested an 18-year-old man from the Saint-Laurent borough of Montreal on Thursday morning in connection with allegations of terrorism.
Two staff members who were stabbed at a Halifax-area high school have been released from hospital, while the student accused in the stabbing remains in custody.
A Transportation Safety Board of Canada report has linked the fatal sinking of a Nova Scotia scallop dragger in 2020 to years of federal inaction on the imposition of stricter stability standards for fishing vessels.
After a number of parents were left frustrated this week over not getting their kids into swimming lessons, the City of Winnipeg confirmed a drop in the number of courses it offers.
TBA was started last year by long-time right-wing activist David Parker. It began as a way to push back against COVID-19 measures, but has since drastically grown.
Authorities say charges have been laid against a Calgary resident in connection with the attempted importation of 300 kilograms of methamphetamine at the Coutts, Alta., border crossing.
The largest recorded earthquake in Alberta's history was not a natural event, but most likely caused by disposal of oilsands wastewater, new research has concluded.
Wearing her husband's police jacket, Ashley Ryan walked to centre ice at a charity hockey game in Spruce Grove, Alta., Wednesday night. She, a paramedic, then dropped the puck on the matchup that Brett was planning to referee.
Mounties in Surrey say a man they arrested last week for breaking into a home was also wanted by Burnaby RCMP, New Westminster police and the Metro Vancouver Transit Police.
Three years after the start of the pandemic, surgical backlogs and wait times are only just starting to improve, according to new data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, with patients still waiting significantly longer for surgeries than they did before the pandemic.
