A Second Chance at Life – Marcus’s Story
You never think it can happen to you. I still remember sitting in the emergency department at Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital and hearing the doctor say five words that changed my life.
“You need emergency brain surgery.”
For a moment, everything around me seemed to stop. You know that feeling when something is so unexpected, that it doesn’t even feel real?
I kept thinking, this can’t be happening to me. It didn’t make any sense. I was an active guy. I practiced yoga and had done CrossFit for 17 years. I took care of myself. I was doing all the things you’re supposed to do to live a healthy life, but in this moment, none of that mattered.
Because what I thought was a severe migraine that had been coming and going for a week had suddenly become a matter of life and death.
Dr. McNaull, the physician at Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital treating me, discovered that a colloid cyst was blocking the flow of cerebrospinal fluid in my brain, causing a dangerous buildup of pressure known as hydrocephalus. What Dr. McNaull and the team at Soldiers’ emergency department did that night was remarkable. If I had gone home and gone to bed, I probably wouldn’t have woken up the next morning. That diagnosis saved my life.
Their expertise was critical, but so were the tools and technology they had available when every second mattered. Caring donors, like you, make those resources possible.
You already know and understand just how important our hospital is to our community. Your ongoing support helps keep exceptional healthcare close to home for all of us. And I can’t thank you enough for being such an integral part of what makes Soldiers’ so special.
We’re all going to need the hospital at some point in our lives. When that time comes, we want to know our hospital has the critical equipment and up-to-date technology our healthcare teams need to provide the best possible care.
I first became a donor to Soldiers’ a few years ago, after my mom developed severe pneumonia and spent over a month in the hospital. Her care team saved her life, too. That’s when I realized not only how important it is to have exceptional healthcare close to home, but also how essential donor support is in helping make that care possible—by funding the equipment our healthcare teams need.
Since then, I’ve continued to support Soldiers’ both personally and through Mr. Sub’s community give-back program. I wanted to give back to the hospital that had been there for my family and help ensure that care would be there for others, too. I never imagined that, just a few years later, I would be one of those patients myself.
Despite a packed emergency department that Saturday night, I watched as Dr. McNaull and my healthcare team worked quickly and seamlessly together. They ran test after test—from blood work and X-rays to everything in between. They treated me with urgency, compassion and expertise. I felt seen. They didn’t stop until they found an answer.
They found the colloid cyst on my brain using a CT scanner that was funded by donors, just a few years prior. Knowing that donor support helped put the technology in place that ultimately saved my life is something I’ll always be grateful for. Dr. McNaull collaborated with neurologists at a specialized hospital in Toronto, where I was transferred that night for emergency brain surgery.
No one knew what the outcome would be. I was given a list of some really scary possibilities. I could lose my sight, my speech, my memory or my motor function. There was even a chance I wouldn’t make it through the surgery.
I don’t know what your beliefs are, but I truly believe what happened to me was nothing short of a miracle. After a week in the hospital, I was back at home with my lovely wife, who was an absolute rock through everything. Just three months later, I was back at work with my incredible team at Mr. Sub. Four months after surgery, I was coaching CrossFit again, back to the active lifestyle I knew and loved.