Warm sleepy baby snuggles on the couch. The taste of long-forgotten cold coffee. Sticky fingers reaching eagerly towards a new sibling, and whispered reminders to use ‘gentle hands’ mingling with giggles and grunts. These are the beautifully ordinary moments that define life as a new family of four.
They’re also the moments that remind Heather Fraser just how much having a hospital close to home matters; something many of us take for granted until we need it most.
For Heather and her husband, Sean Teather, the birth of their second child, a son named Callan, brought that reality into sharp focus.
Complications during Callan’s delivery led to Heather being admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where she spent the first three days of her son’s life intubated and unable to hold him. She then spent an additional three weeks on the Medical/Surgical unit as her body slowly recovered and regained its strength.
“It was a period filled with fear, uncertainty, pain, and emotional exhaustion,” shares Heather. “There were moments I truly didn’t know how I would get through, but I was never alone. The team at NHH helped me survive one of the hardest chapters of my life.”
For nearly a month, Heather was cared for at NHH, where the team supported her as she worked to recover: to gain the strength to sit up, to walk again, and eventually to be able to go home.
“The teams on every unit were incredible,” remembers Heather. “They treated me with dignity, showed up with empathy, encouragement, gentle humour, and cared not only for my physical health, but for my emotional well-being too. I will never forget how safe they made me feel when everything felt out of control. They helped me heal when my body and mind were completely drained.”
The care team wrapped its arms around not only Heather, but her family. They ensured Callan and Sean were looked after, they helped facilitate early skin-to-skin contact between mom and baby, they answered late night check-in calls from her parents, and so much more. Having the hospital in their community meant Heather’s loved ones could easily drop-in, could sit by her bedside, and when Heather was strong enough so as not to scare her, could bring her daughter, Hazel in to visit.
“I honestly don’t have the words to fully express how grateful I am to the team at NHH,” shares Heather. “This hospital is not just a building; it is a place filled with people who truly care.”
With the support of her care team, Heather was able to return home and experience those beautiful everyday moments: busy days, tiny giggles, cold coffee, crowded couches, and more.
Community Lives Here. Your Support Helps Ensure It Stays Here.
A strong hospital is the cornerstone of a strong community, but it does not stand alone. Funding for medical equipment and technology at hospitals in Ontario relies on fundraising.
The community’s impact can be seen, felt, and heard inside Northumberland Hills Hospital in the donor-funded medical equipment and technology that is essential to delivering modern healthcare. Community donations work alongside care teams to help provide patients — people like Heather — with what they need, not if, but when they need it.
