Heather Latter
Tickets are going quickly for the upcoming “Have a Heart Benefit” in honour of local resident Nathan DeGagne.
DeGagne, 31, was diagnosed with a serious heart virus as a teenager and the time has come for him to have a heart transplant.
“He’s in Winnipeg,” explained his aunt, Shelley DeGagne. “He was on the transplant list, but they had to install a heart pump instead.
“And now he’s just waiting to heal from this and then he will go back on the heart transplant list,” she added.
Nathan and his wife, Sarah, already have been in Winnipeg for two months and must continue to live there because of the heart pump he has.
“He has to be close to the hospital,” his aunt noted, adding the young couple likely will have to be in the city for a year.
“They told him to plan for a year,” she said. “It might be a little shorter if things go well, but it’s hard to get a heart.”
Shelley DeGagne indicated her nephew recently was released from the hospital and is now “home” in their current residence in Winnipeg.
But she added the place near the hospital where they are living only can allow them to stay for a certain amount of time. As such, the couple has found a house that they will move into in mid-May.
She also noted neither of the two can work as someone needs to be with Nathan around the clock.
“[But] his spirits are very good,” Shelley DeGagne stressed. “They are happy the kids were [there] this week . . . so they are just happy to get together as a family again.”
They have three children—Nick, 13, who lives in Edmonton, Keifer, five, and Daisy, six months.
Given the couple continues to maintain a home in Fort Frances, as well as has to pay for living expenses in Winnipeg, family and friends thought a benefit would be able to help them out.
“It’s the start of a long haul for them,” Shelley DeGagne noted, saying she just wanted to do what she could to help.
The benefit will be held this Saturday (May 4) from 5-8 p.m. at the Couchiching multi-use facility.
Tickets, which cost $10 each, are available at Crazy Lady Fabric, Sunset Country Ford, Lakewood Tire, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Leon DeGagne Ltd.
The dinner will feature ham, turkey, and all the trimmings.
Entertainment will be provided by “Entyrely Mac” and friends, and there also will be a penny table and silent auction.
“Unfortunately, Nathan won’t be able to be there,” Shelley DeGagne said, though noting he’s working on a video that will be played during the event.
“They have a wonderful family,” she added. “Sarah’s parents are looking after the kids and John and Betty, Nathan’s parents, are there all the time.
“But it’s still a really difficult thing they are having to go through.”
DeGagne, however, is positive the community will come together and help out the young family.
“This community is awesome when it comes to things like this,” she remarked.
For more information about the benefit, call Shelley DeGagne at 274-6293.
