Light Up a Life
Your gift of any amount – combined with gifts from other friends in the community – will help us purchase two ventilators for the Intensive Care Unit.
First introduced in 1994, the annual Light Up a Life campaign has raised more than $4 million and funded a variety of equipment for NHH over the years – everything from surgical scopes, to anaesthetic machines, hospital beds, and the MRI.
This year’s goal is to support the purchase of two ventilators for NHH’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Read a message from Dr. Darius Seidler, our 2025 Light Up a Life Chair, and discover Tyler’s story below.
Chief of Critical Care and the Troop-Alexander ICU
I spend a lot of my time in a place most people hope not to go – the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Our team provides round-the-clock care to some of our hospital’s most vulnerable patients. Referring to the medical equipment in our unit as critical is an understatement; it works alongside us to monitor our patients and support us in determining the best course of action. In the case of ventilators, they quite literally work to keep our patients alive.
It is an honour and a privilege to serve as Chair of this year’s Light Up a Life campaign to help patients like Tyler (read his story below). Our goal is to raise enough funds to support the purchase of two ventilators – a $300,000 project.
Mechanical ventilation is a vital, life-saving intervention used when a patient is unable to breathe on their own due to illness, trauma, or severe medical conditions. The patient is intubated, meaning a breathing tube is placed in their airway, and connected to a ventilator, which takes over the crucial task of delivering oxygen to their lungs. Without ventilators many ICU patients would not survive severe respiratory failure or other illnesses.
As our community grows, so does the complexity of the care we provide. Recently, our ICU reached an important milestone: we were officially recognized by Critical Care Services Ontario and Ontario Health as a Level 3 Basic Level of Care Unit. This means more critically ill patients can now receive advanced, life-saving treatment right here: close to home, close to family, and surrounded by a team that treats them like one of their own. With this recognition comes the responsibility to meet higher standards of care and to ensure we are equipped with the tools we need.
By making a contribution, you will equip our doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists with the tools to save lives and ease suffering. You become part of someone’s healing, recovery, and second chance.
Thank you in advance for your support – your gift has the power to save lives.
“Never Give Up.”
These are the words stitched onto Tyler Lynn’s hat, above the image of a vibrant soaring phoenix. For Tyler, these are more than just three words, this is the mantra that kept him keep going during the three months he spent in the ICU at NHH.
Tyler has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy – a rare genetic disorder characterized by progressive muscle weakness that currently has no cure.
His stay in the ICU was a battle and he and his family credit the care team for saving his life and giving him a second chance. Throughout this time, he relied on a ventilator to breathe – to ensure his body received the oxygen necessary to survive.
“The ventilator fought as hard as he did,” remembers his mom, Terri. “We’re grateful this equipment was available in our community and to the entire team who treated us like family and gave us hope. Throughout our time at NHH, the Respiratory Therapists wanted to try different things and looked into options to ultimately help us get Tyler home.”
This was Tyler’s first hospital stay in his 27 years. After his time in the ICU, he spent another four months in a rehab facility before finally returning home to his family. He now has two ventilators – one at home and one attached to his wheelchair, which allow him to get out in his community and enjoy different activities.
“If anything, he’s stronger now than he was before,” continues Terri.
To meet Tyler, you can quickly feel his happy-go-lucky nature. His face lights up when he talks about his dog, Snoopy, who he fought to get home to.
As scary as his time in the ICU must have been, he smiles when he talks about his care team – about how they would make him laugh, how they went the extra mile to make sure he was comfortable, and how they called to check up on him after he was discharged. His time at his local hospital gave him a different outlook on life and today, he is determined to try new things and experience more.
When asked what he’d say to someone considering supporting NHH, Tyler shared, “You could be saving a life by making a donation. You could be giving someone a second chance.”
