We’re all very saddened to hear that Francine Bryar, one of our hard-working members and a fellow CHD patient, died last night at TGH of cardiac arrest. Fran was the co-founder and president of the Heart Defects Society of Windsor and Essex County.
After spending a lifetime struggling with her heart defects, Fran received a heart transplant on November 9, 2009. While the heart transplant was a success in terms of heart function, Fran experienced a myriad of other complications, including severe infections and a collapsed lung. After almost 9 months in the hospital, she finally returned home to Windsor in July, to her fiancé Brian, her parents, family, friends, and pets. But her time at home was interrupted by frequent trips back to TGH for tests and treatment. She was born on December 18, 1973 and passed away on September 7, 2010.
As a footnote, after trying to get together with Fran in the summer to film a segment for the awareness film CCHA is making, I was finally able to get together with her in her hospital room on the morning of September 7. She joked about her “Thumper” pajamas (as in Bambi), and didn’t want us to start filming until she’d brushed her “hospital hair”. She spoke on film for about 10 minutes, about living with congenital heart disease, the organization she helped found, and some of the things she was particularly proud of. Her participation will make the film all the more poignant. I am just really grateful to Fran for her dedication to CHD patients and working so hard for so many years so selflessly. I’m also grateful that she wanted to be included in the film. Her intelligence, humour, energy, and compassion – and fury – will be greatly missed but always remembered.
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