FRIDAY October 12, 2012 Vol. 27 No. 82 ••• $1.25 inc. H.S.T.
COMOX VALLEY
ARTS
SPORTS
Violinist Kytami will bow to everybody at the Waverley Hotel. page B3
Lisa Cunningham is back from the World Skeet Championships in San Antonio with a world title. page B12
RECORD A division of
Your community. Your newspaper.
Railway requires funding
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Comox woman struggling with weight Amber Foster had to return to B.C. from treatment program in Alberta
Scott Stanfield
Scott Stanfield
Record Staff
The Comox Valley Regional District and four other regional district members of the Island Corridor Foundation are being asked to contribute $3.2 million toward repairing 48 bridges along the E&N line between Victoria and Courtenay. Last spring, senior levels of government committed $15 million for railroad infrastructure in an effort to rebuild the Island railway. Improvements will provide an incremental approach to restoring and expanding passenger and freight service on the Island. The plan resulted from a 2010 Ministry of Transportation study. The regional contribution is essential to maintain rail services and to provide an alternate mode of transportation, says ICF co-chair Mary Ashley. She said federal and provincial funding is in jeopardy without the regional funds. Re-establishing a viable rail service has been a priority for Island communities since 2004 when districts, municipalities and First Nations rallied to save the railway from closure. The first step was to form the ICF and acquire ownership of the railway. The second step was to partner with a rail operator. The third step is incremental rebuilding. An improved railroad would allow a new train service agreement to be negotiated with VIA Rail. Improvements include ... see LEVY ■ A2
Record Staff
FORMER ISLAND IDOL Amber Foster is struggling with anorexia nervosa and a shortage of government funding.
BRIAN
PHOTO BY SCOTT STANFIELD
A Comox woman struggling with anorexia nervosa is appealing to the Province to help her return to an eating disorder program in Edmonton that she attended this year — and which she credits for saving her life. She says the B.C. government, however, would no longer fund her as an outpatient at the University of Alberta Hospital. “They put you in the transitional program to make sure you can make it,” Amber Foster said. “They (Health Ministry) said they would cut off all my funding.” Before going to Edmonton, Foster was under the impression she would remain for the entire program and that she would be able to pay her rent. “But instead they said we would cut you off from everything and we would give you $91. I had to come home. I had no choice. I didn’t even have time to utilize the program because I was mostly in the surgery ward.” Foster — the 2004 Island Idol winner — has struggled with anorexia since her teens. Over the years she has suffered heart attacks, transient ischemic attacks (mini-strokes), seizures and pneumonia. At one point she weighed 67 pounds. Following her stay in Edmonton, the five-foot, three-inch Foster was up to about 115 pounds, which was within normal Body
Mass Index parameters. “That’s when you go into the transitional part of the program,” said Foster, who has lost about 30 pounds in the past two months. She said those who suffer an eating disorder have the highest mortality rate (20 per cent) of any psychological disorder. “Why wouldn’t the Minister of Health put out more facilities and do more actions to get things straight so that relapses don’t happen? And so that people don’t have to go out of province?” The ministry cannot speak to individual cases. “We recognize the tremendous challenges families cope with on a daily basis when a loved one has complex medical issues, such as an eating disorder,” the ministry said in a statement. “It is important that any client receives the most appropriate treatment to meet their needs, whether that is in an outpatient, residential or inpatient setting, as determined by clinical experts. The ultimate goal is to help people recover and live in their own communities — and we need to ensure supports are available for people close to home.” Clinicians work closely with clients and family doctors to develop a care plan to maintain a healthy lifestyle, which includes psychological support, health checkups and dietician support. However, the ministry said it cannot force people into care. “Clients need to be willing to attend meetings and participate in the care that is offered to them,” the statement said. Foster has attended the ... see SOME ■ A2
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