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DECEMBER 30, 2014 | Volume 27 No. 155
where • are • they
Arctic freeze has triggered extreme alert
NOW? In this week’s editions of KTW, we present our annual Where Are They Now? series, in which we catch up with newsmakers of the past. First up is Baby Henry (Thing 1 in photo at right with twin brother Seamus and with mom, Miranda, below), who celebrated his first birthday last month after a year of several surgeries related to his heart.
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Nearly 70 guests showed up to the birthday party on Nov. 12. Dressed in Dr. Seuss-themed shirts bearing the words Thing One and Thing Two, twin birthday boys Henry and Seamus Brown celebrated their first year of life — one that has featured plenty of long drives, hospital visits, surgeries and prayers.
“It was so good,” said Henry’s mom, Miranda. “It was exactly what I hoped for, just that we made it a year.” Three-hundred-and-sixty-five days earlier, mother and babies were on their way to B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, after doctors at Royal Inland Hospital determined Henry would need open-heart surgery shortly after birth. While a normal heart has four chambers, Henry’s has only three. He is also missing the pulmonary artery, which
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enables the circulation of oxygen in the bloodstream. Since that first diagnosis, Henry has had several surgeries, including two open-heart procedures. In April, doctors at B.C. Children’s Hospital were able to rebuild Henry’s heart with a donor artery, but the tissue won’t grow with him as he ages, meaning more procedures will be required.
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With several more days of freezing temperatures expected, Duane Seibel is confident the homeless in the city will be kept warm at night. Seibel, acting executive director of the Kamloops branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), said changes this year have increased housing options. Through a partnership with the ASK Wellness Society and with funding through the federal Homelessness Partnering Strategy, 10 “apartment-type situations” have been added to the housing inventory, Seibel said, noting ASK is working on developing five more units that will be available in January. ASK executive director Bob Hughes said finding and creating an additional 15 housing units in a short time
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span — the project took place in recent months — speaks well for the way the city helps its homeless. “In Vancouver, you’ve got them celebrating their shelters and we’re adding to our housing capacity here,” Hughes said. “It’s going to have a dramatic impact.” Emerald Centre, the CMHA shelter on West Victoria Street, has a capacity of 35 but, through the province’s extreme-weather response (EWR) program, another 10 people can be added to that limit, said shelter manager Charlene Eden. “We’re making sure nobody is sleeping outside,” she said. The EWR is triggered daily when the temperature drops to -7 C. Environment Canada is calling for the Arctic deep freeze to linger through this week, with wind being the main culprit.
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