Hope Is in the Air

It’s easy to see why Chrissy and Travis Hollman chose to raise their family in Terrace, B.C., with its small-town feel and opportunities for growth through liquid natural gas (LNG) related projects. Four weeks after welcoming their son, Soren, he was airlifted to the children’s hospital in Vancouver where he was diagnosed with a ventricular septal defect, causing his heart to overwork and pump fluid into his lungs.

Though Terrace has nearly everything the family could ever need or want, the surgery Soren required was beyond the level of care available there. As a result, Soren needed to return to Vancouver a few months later for open heart surgery, which was over 1,300 kilometres from their home.

Looking for help
With Chrissy on maternity leave, the family was on limited income. The financial stress of traveling to Vancouver for surgery was overwhelming. As a nurse, Chrissy was familiar with Hope Air, a Canadian charity that arranges flights for those who need to travel for medical reasons, but face financial and distance barriers.

Three months after their emergency visit to the hospital, Soren traveled with his parents to Vancouver for the open heart surgery at the children’s hospital.

“Hope Air assisted our stress-free surgery by supplying Soren and myself a flight to and from Vancouver,” said Chrissy. “It was truly the only thing I did not have to worry about.”

As a proud neighbour committed to enriching the communities where we live and work, a $15,000 donation from TransCanada’s Coastal GasLink and Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) projects will allow Hope Air to arrange 45 flights for residents, like the Hollman family. This follows last year’s donation that also helped 45 people through Hope Air.

“This donation will clear away some of the worry, distress and extra cost of travelling long distances for medical treatment that many people who live in remote communities face,” said says Greg Cano, Coastal GasLink’s director of project planning and execution. “This is a program that changes lives, and we are proud to be involved with them.”

Life-saving service
Since 1986, Hope Air has arranged more than 99,000 flights for Canadians travelling to major cities for medical treatment. Though we hope you’ll never need to access Hope Air, it’s there for you and your family in case you do.

“Hope Air has done amazing work over the last 29 years to bridge the gap between home and hospital for thousands of children and adults. We are proud to be able to support Hope Air with our corporate donation,” says John Dunn, vice-president of PRGT.

As for Soren, the family is thrilled to share that after his successful surgery, he no longer requires medication.
“He had more energy than we could have imagined in such a short amount of time,” said Chrissy. “He started to thrive and grow before our eyes. He truly started to flourish.”

Learn more about Hope Air, or visit the Society section of TransCanada’s Corporate Social Responsibility report to learn more about TransCanada’s investments in causes that matter most to the communities where the company operates.