Tony Passarelli was used to having a bit of breathing trouble.
The 52-year-old’s asthma often flares up in the spring, but this past March, something felt different. He started wheezing, and several rounds of antibiotics didn’t solve whatever was ailing him.
Later that month, his wife of more than 25 years, Linda, fell ill as well. Then she tested positive for the virus behind COVID-19. While she isolated in a room at the couple’s Bolton, Ont., home, Tony took a turn for the worse, and his wheezing became a cough that just wouldn’t quit.
He headed to the nearest emergency department — Headwaters Health Care Centre in Orangeville — on March 29.
“They just said I had pneumonia,” Tony said, “and that they were going to keep me.”
That’s the last thing he remembers.
What happened next, according to the soft-spoken father of three, was a weeks-long ordeal with COVID-19.
After passing out in the hospital, he wound up intubated in an intensive care unit, was transferred to Etobicoke General Hospital in Toronto, suffered round after round of fevers and infections, then became so ill that doctors thought there was nothing more they could do to keep him alive.
“There’s nothing else left,” Linda recalled being told by one of the ICU physicians in early April.
Then came a sliver of hope.
Tony qualified for an ECMO treatment — or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation — which could be his last chance at survival.
‘High level’ of demand
Roughly 40 Canadian hospitals have access to at least one ECMO machine, representing just three per cent of all hospital sites across Canada — though it’s unclear how many machines in total the country has access to.
Offered at only a handful of Ontario hospital sites, with the bulk of the machines at Toronto General Hospital, it’s a form of life support that uses a pump to circulate blood through a machine that replaces the work of someone’s lungs and, in some cases, their heart.
The machine removes carbon dioxide, then sends oxygen-filled blood back into the bloodstream, giving damaged lungs a chance to rest and recover.
Passarelli relaxes at home after he spent time in three separate Ontario hospitals while battling COVID-19. In the pandemic’s first wave in Ontario, 34 COVID-19 patients were given ECMO treatment, and more than half survived. (Submitted by Linda Passarelli)
Patients who qualify for the treatment are usually under 65 and have few pre-existing health conditions, ensuring they have the best shot at surviving.
Linda credits the device with saving her husband’s life, and she’s not alone. In the pandemic’s first wave in Ontario, 34 COVID-19 patients were given this potentially life-saving treatment, and more than half survived.
Now, as coronavirus infections are surging to record-breaking levels, there’s concern that demand is quickly rising again for ECMO — this time as Toronto General juggles both COVID-19 cases and other patients requiring the last-resort approach that’s in limited supply, including those hospitalized for lung transplants.
“It’s a pretty high level,” said Dr. Marcelo Cypel, surgical director for the University Health Network’s extracorporeal life support program, which includes the ECMO treatment at the network’s Toronto General site.
Dr. Marcelo Cypel is the surgical director for the University Health Network’s extracorporeal life support program in Toronto, which handles ECMO treatments. (Submitted by University Health Network)
In just the last two weeks, Cypel said, at least a dozen COVID-19 patients have been hooked up to ECMO machines.
At the time of his interview with CBC News on Tuesday, nine of the hospital’s 11 intensive care admissions were being given the treatment, using nearly a third of the hospital’s 30 ECMO machines — a supply that was increased this year to brace for the earlier influx of COVID-19 patients.
“We are working at our full ICU capacity right now already,” Cypel said. “And that’s a concern, because we continue to receive referrals every day.”
ECMO team ‘may have to slow down’
While the first coronavirus wave saw the cancellation of thousands of elective surgeries and other procedures to make room for COVID-19 patients, Cypel said in the second wave, his team is handling another influx of the sickest of those patients, as well as anyone needing ECMO for other reasons.
But he worries that may not be sustainable much longer.
If recent provincial lockdowns for Toronto and Peel Region don’t put a dent in case growth and ICU admissions, Cypel said, the ECMO team “may have to slow down,” which could affect patients waiting for other crucial hospital services such as transplants.
That’s a situation Renee Alkass finds alarming, since she once had the treatment herself for a non-COVID medical issue.
In 2017, long before the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Guelph student developed an ear infection that spiralled into acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). After struggling to breathe, Alkass was hospitalized, and doctors discovered that both of her lungs were filled with fluid.
After suffering from fluid in her lungs during a strange infection in 2017, Renee Alkass was sent to Toronto General Hospital, where she spent 18 days on an ECMO machine. (Submitted by Renee Alkass)
She wound up being sent to Toronto General and was on ECMO for 18 days during her stay.
“I can’t even fathom to understand what everyone must be feeling,” said the 21-year-old, who has since recovered from ARDS and was eventually diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder.
“And I do hope that there’s a light at the end of all this and things start looking up from here, and there isn’t such a stretch or this need.”
When asked if the province has any plans to address the recent demand for ECMO at Toronto General, provincial officials didn’t outline any.
Instead, a spokesperson told CBC News the decision to use it is a clinical one, with the Ministry of Health providing dedicated funding to the hospital for patients who require the treatment.
“The hospital can expense the ministry for costs related to treating patients with COVID-19 … if it is above and beyond their funding allocation,” the ministry said in a statement.
“So, it’s not expected that the needs of patients with COVID-19 will impact the use of the therapy for other patients.”
1 in 10 ICU beds have COVID-19 patients
But Anthony Dale, president and CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association, said the pressure on the ECMO program is just one example of the impact from rising numbers of COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions.
Roughly one in every 10 intensive care beds in Ontario is now occupied by someone infected with the virus, he recently noted.
“What people simply have to appreciate is that critical care is the most complex care that you can access in an Ontario hospital, and it’s located in only certain hospitals,” Dale said. “And it’s totally dependent on having access to the right kinds of health professionals with the right kind of technology.”
Both Dale and Cypel say the key to lowering demand for limited treatments like ECMO is simply reducing the amount of community spread of COVID-19.
“I don’t want people to only see how serious this is when the province’s hospitals are facing an even more destabilizing crisis,” Dale said.
“Right now I know it’s hidden from you. But I assure you that right now hospitals, especially in major urban centres, are bracing for serious impact over the next two to four weeks.”
The Passarellis, with their three children and Tony’s mother, at home in Bolton, Ont., north of Toronto, after he returned home in May. Tony now uses an oxygen machine to help him breathe (Submitted by Linda Passarelli)
‘We’re so blessed that he was picked’
When Tony Passarelli finally woke up at Toronto General, months before the second surge of COVID-19 cases, he had no idea a machine had helped him get to that point.
“I just remember one of the nurses there saying, ‘Do you know where you are? Do you know what day it is?’ Groggily I said, ‘I’m in the hospital, but day-wise, no,'” he recalled. “She said the date — which I don’t remember — and she says, ‘You’ve been here three weeks.'”
Tony soon learned more alarming details: His entire family in Bolton, northwest of Toronto, including his three children and mother, all wound up having confirmed or likely infections of the virus.
And he found out there was a long recovery ahead. Tony’s motor skills weren’t working, and he couldn’t eat or drink on his own. He was transferred back to Etobicoke General and discharged in early May, and he now uses an oxygen machine to help him breathe.
But he’s alive, Linda said, and that’s enough.
“Our family’s a family right now because of the ECMO,” she added.
What scares the couple now? The realization that there’s high demand for only a limited number of machines across the entire province.
“The fact that there are so few, and there’s such a demand … that is incredibly scary,” Linda said.
“We’re regular people; we’re so blessed that he was picked and he’s here today.”
MONCTON, N.B. – New Brunswick RCMP say two youths have been arrested after an emergency alert was issued Monday evening about someone carrying a gun in the province’s southeast.
Caledonia Region Mounties say they were first called out to Main Street in the community of Salisbury around 7 p.m. on reports of a shooting.
A 48-year-old man was found at the scene suffering from gunshot wounds and he was rushed to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police say in the interest of public safety, they issued an Alert Ready message at 8:15 p.m. for someone driving a silver Ford F-150 pickup truck and reportedly carrying a firearm with dangerous intent in the Salisbury and Moncton area.
Two youths were arrested without incident later in the evening in Salisbury, and the alert was cancelled just after midnight Tuesday.
Police are still looking for the silver pickup truck, covered in mud, with possible Nova Scotia licence plate HDC 958. They now confirm the truck was stolen from Central Blissville.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Golf Canada has set an impressive stretch goal of having 30 professional golfers at the highest levels of the sport by 2032.
The World Junior Girls Golf Championship is a huge part of that target.
Credit Valley Golf and Country Club will host the international tournament from Sept. 30 to Oct. 5, with 24 teams representing 23 nations — Canada gets two squads — competing. Lindsay McGrath, a 17-year-old golfer from Oakville, Ont., said she’s excited to be representing Canada and continue to develop her game.
“I’m really grateful to be here,” said McGrath on Monday after a news conference in Credit Valley’s clubhouse in Mississauga, Ont. “It’s just such an awesome feeling being here and representing our country, wearing all the logos and being on Team Canada.
“I’ve always wanted to play in this tournament, so it’s really special to me.”
McGrath will be joined by Nobelle Park of Oakville, Ont., and Eileen Park of Red Deer, Alta., on Team Canada 2. All three earned their places through a qualifying tournament last month.
“I love my teammates so much,” said McGrath. “I know Nobelle and Eileen very well. I’m just so excited to be with them. We have such a great relationship.”
Shauna Liu of Maple, Ont., Calgary’s Aphrodite Deng and Clairey Lin make up Team Canada 2. Liu earned her exemption following her win at the 2024 Canadian Junior Girls Championship while Deng earned her exemption as being the low eligible Canadian on the world amateur golf ranking as of Aug. 7.
Deng was No. 175 at the time, she has since improved to No. 171 and is Canada’s lowest-ranked player.
“I think it’s a really great opportunity,” said Liu. “We don’t really get that many opportunities to play with people from across the world, so it’s really great to meet new people and play with them.
“It’s great to see maybe how they play and take parts from their game that we might also implement our own games.”
Golf Canada founded the World Junior Girls Golf Championship in 2014 to fill a void in women’s international competition and help grow its own homegrown talent. The hosts won for the first time last year when Vancouver’s Anna Huang, Toronto’s Vanessa Borovilos and Vancouver’s Vanessa Zhang won team gold and Huang earned individual silver.
Medallists who have gone on to win on the LPGA Tour include Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., who was fourth in the individual competition at the inaugural tournament. She was on Canada’s bronze-medal team in 2014 with Selena Costabile of Thornhill, Ont., and Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee.
Other notable competitors who went on to become LPGA Tour winners include Angel Yin and Megan Khang of the United States, as well as Yuka Saso of the Philippines, Sweden’s Linn Grant and Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand.
“It’s not if, it’s when they’re going to be on the LPGA Tour,” said Garrett Ball, Golf Canada’s chief operating officer, of how Canada’s golfers in the World Junior Girls Championship can be part of the organization’s goal to have 30 pros in the LPGA and PGA Tours by 2032.
“Events like this, like the She Plays Golf festival that we launched two years ago, and then the CPKC Women’s Open exemptions that we utilize to bring in our national team athletes and get the experience has been important in that pathway.”
The individual winner of the World Junior Girls Golf Championship will earn a berth in next year’s CPKC Women’s Open at nearby Mississaugua Golf and Country Club.
Both clubs, as well as former RBC Canadian Open host site Glen Abbey Golf Club, were devastated by heavy rains through June and July as the Greater Toronto Area had its wettest summer in recorded history.
Jason Hanna, the chief operating officer of Credit Valley Golf and Country Club, said that he has seen the Credit River flood so badly that it affected the course’s playability a handful of times over his nearly two decades with the club.
Staff and members alike came together to clean up the course after the flooding was over, with hundreds of people coming together to make the club playable again.
“You had to show up, bring your own rake, bring your own shovel, bring your own gloves, and then we’d take them down to the golf course, assign them to areas where they would work, and then we would do a big barbecue down at the halfway house,” said Hanna. “We got guys, like, 80 years old, putting in eight-hour days down there, working away.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
NEW YORK (AP) — Fenway Park has the Ted Williams seat. And now Citi Field has the Grimace seat.
The kid-friendly McDonald’s character made another appearance at the ballpark Monday, when the New York Mets unveiled a commemorative purple seat in section 302 to honor “his special connection to Mets fans.”
Wearing his pear-shaped purple costume and a baseball glove on backwards, Grimace threw out a funny-looking first pitch — as best he could with those furry fingers and short arms — before New York beat the Miami Marlins at Citi Field on June 12.
That victory began a seven-game winning streak, and Grimace the Mets’ good-luck charm soon went viral, taking on a life of its own online.
New York is 53-31 since June 12, the best record in the majors during that span. The Mets were tied with rival Atlanta for the last National League playoff spot as they opened their final homestand of the season Monday night against Washington.
The new Grimace seat in the second deck in right field — located in row 6, seat 12 to signify 6/12 on the calendar — was brought into the Shannon Forde press conference room Monday afternoon. The character posed next to the chair and with fans who strolled into the room.
The seat is available for purchase for each of the Mets’ remaining home games.
“It’s been great to see how our fanbase created the Grimace phenomenon following his first pitch in June and in the months since,” Mets senior vice president of partnerships Brenden Mallette said in a news release. “As we explored how to further capture the magic of this moment and celebrate our new celebrity fan, installing a commemorative seat ahead of fan appreciation weekend felt like the perfect way to give something back to the fans in a fun and unique way.”
Up in Boston, the famous Ted Williams seat is painted bright red among rows of green chairs deep in the right-field stands at Fenway Park to mark where a reported 502-foot homer hit by the Hall of Fame slugger landed in June 1946.
So, does this catapult Grimace into Splendid Splinter territory?
“I don’t know if we put him on the same level,” Mets executive vice president and chief marketing officer Andy Goldberg said with a grin.
“It’s just been a fun year, and at the same time, we’ve been playing great ball. Ever since the end of May, we have been crushing it,” he explained. “So I think that added to the mystique.”
