Shawnigan #JeanUp

Campus was a vision in denim on Thursday as staff and students traded school dress for jeans in support of BC Children’s Hospital. The annual event sees over 200,000 participants from across the province #JeanUp for BC’s sickest kids. Funds raised through Jeans Day help to create new possibilities for kids and families – conquering childhood diseases, preventing illness and injury, and building the unique needs of kids into every aspect of their care.

Director of Residential Life and Head of Mathematics Erica Dalrymple also spoke in chapel, sharing her personal experience as a grandma of a very sick child. Her second granddaughter Elsie was born by emergency c-section: the umbilical cord had knotted itself and had also wrapped twice around the baby’s neck – constricting the vital flow of nutrients and oxygen rich blood. Rapid intervention saved baby Elsie, but she developed pneumonia in both lungs a short time later and was rushed to the ICU in Victoria. “I remember how hard it was to be so powerless,” said Mrs. D. “The doctor later told us that Elsie was among the 25 sickest kids in Canada when she arrived. After 10 days in ICU, our little fighter recovered and she is now a healthy and mischievous one-year old.”

Bringing her story into the present, Mrs. D. carried baby Elsie up to the chapel lectern to deliver a final message to the community: “Battles such as this go on daily as skilled medical professionals soldier on as they did to help our family survive intact. I cannot stress the importance of how crucial it is that we support hospitals across not only across BC, but around the world. Thank you in advance for participating in Jeans Day and supporting a hospital where children are given hope, care, and a fighting chance for life.”