Meet the Parents!

Diane Wilson and John Gill met in high school in Niagara Falls. Later, they moved to Burlington, so they both could commute to their jobs in Toronto and Niagara.

Prior to children, they were an active couple, John with sports, Diane with courses and the Toastmaster organization. This continued when they had children, remaining busy travelling and spending time with friends and family.

When Carling was born, immediate health challenges opened the door to a preview of the health journey they did not realize they were travelling. Their eyes were also opened to the huge network of support they were connected to through caring groups of people around them.

The journey began.

Everyone copes and grieves in different ways. After Carling’s death, Diane and John separated in 2008 and began collaboratively co-parenting their boys. There was no time or place for animosity. Night or day, they simply did what was needed. When the ambulance took Colton to Sick Kids in Toronto, leaving Diane and Colton with no ride home, John simply drove to Burlington, picked up the wheelchair van, drove to Toronto, drove them back to Burlington, then returned to Niagara. Every other weekend if Colton was healthy, Colton and Jarrett would spend time in Niagara with their Dad and expanded family. Diane could then rest and dig deeper into the resources needed to champion Colton's regeneration after the stem cell brain surgery that he underwent in India, earlier in 2008.

When night nursing care became a serious issue with continuous cancelations, Cathy Castillo was brought on board, under the Canadian live-in caregiver program. She was a godsend! It was a busy time, managing health resources, practitioners, funding, and treatments, while championing the complicated navigation of all of the intersecting systems and rules—most often with no sleep.

Years later, Diane and John still work in their respective industries, Diane in media (advertising) and John in insurance. They both continue to pay down healthcare debt, and may never retire, but have the satisfaction of knowing they did everything possible for the health and best interests of each of their three very special children.