As Shirley Edwards watched her husband Albert (Allie) of more than 50 years be resuscitated in the emergency room at the Regina General Hospital, on Aug. 4, 2023, she prayed she would not be widowed that day.

At the time, Shirley thought to herself, "Please let us have more years together."

He had been rushed to the hospital by ambulance, from his Regina home, after losing consciousness and falling a number of times that Friday evening. Shirley knew he needed emergency care when she saw him collapse on their couch. He got up and fell again while walking in their bedroom, which is where he was initially treated by EMS. He continued to drift in and out of consciousness in the ER while the medical team performed CPR and used a defibrillator on him.

“My heart stopped for well over a minute”, shares Allie.

Thanks to our excellent cardiac team at the Regina General Hospital, Allie is back by Shirley’s side. He received a temporary pacemaker about five hours after his first fall at around 10 p.m. on Aug. 4, 2023. After three days of rest over the August long weekend, he received a permanent pacemaker.

“My birthday was a day earlier, so that was a wonderful birthday present to receive”, says Allie, who was discharged two days after in the procedure.

Allie has relied on our cardiac catheterization labs over the years, after his family physician in Broadview, where him and Shirley used to live, discovered he had an irregular heartbeat. He was being monitored by a Regina cardiologist, who ordered an echocardiogram, which led to an angiogram and finally an angioplasty procedure to place a stent in February 2023. In July of that year, Allie also had a Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation Procedure (TAVI) which helped improve the blood flow in his heart by replacing his faulty aortic valve.

“We are so fortunate to have this kind of care available here in Regina”, says Shirley, who raised three sons with Allie in Broadview where he and his brother owned and operated the Massey Ferguson dealership. Now retired, the couple enjoys living in Regina near their middle son, close to three of their eight grandchildren.

Allie and Shirley have been donating to Hospitals of Regina Foundation since 2005 and buying the Foundation’s home lottery tickets since 2004.

“After what I went through, I tell everyone to donate more”, says Allie. “You know where the money you give is going and that is what makes all the equipment I needed possible. I would not be here without it. Period.”

“We are grateful for Allie’s great outcome, thanks to the amazing team in our Mosaic Heart Centre at the Regina General Hospital”, says Dino Sophocleous, president and CEO, Hospitals of Regina Foundation.  

“This centre of excellence provides our southern Saskatchewan community with the best cardiac care possible.”

It is estimated that one in 12 Saskatchewan residents will experience cardiac issues in their lifetime. In the spring of 2024, the Foundation launched a $2.5 million Cardiac Care Campaign to upgrade a second state-of-the-art catheterization lab at Regina's General Hospital. Municipal Hail Insurance pledged a $1 million matching gift for donations from the community. This exceptional commitment means every donor dollar from the community will have double the impact on southern Saskatchewan’s cardiac care capacity.