Send The Hub your health-care horror stories!

Three years ago, I was playing rugby and felt a sharp sting in my leg. I had fully severed my Achilles tendon. A three-centimetre gap opened up above my ankle. “Your tendon ends might as well be flapping in the wind,” my doctor later explained. The resulting injury would mean a year of pain: two surgeries (the second because of problems with the first—my body was rejecting the metal implants), full-leg fibreglass casts, air boots, crutches and canes, endless appointments, Tylenol and opioids, and intense physiotherapy that taught me how to walk again. To make matters worse, it all happened a month before my wedding. Yes, we cancelled our honeymoon. Yes, we rechoreographed our first dance. Yes, I rolled down the aisle in a knee scooter. Joking aside, while the recovery period was long and arduous, it would have been even worse had I not pulled personal favours and accessed a private clinic to get the care I needed. While the Ontario medical staff I dealt with were excellent, the system they worked within was not. Prior to getting that additional help, I had been hastily put in a rudimentary cast in the ER, and told it would probably be a few months until an MRI scan became available—where I could understand the full extent of the injury. My story of health-care frustrations is one of millions, with many Canadians having it far worse than I. We at The Hub are interested in the struggles our readers and listeners have faced accessing and navigating Canada’s struggling health-care system. We’re interested in helping you tell your stories by compiling a collection of personal stories from across the country. Last month, the Alberta government introduced legislation that will mean big changes for how health care is delivered in that province and potentially the country. Their aim is to allow physicians to practice in both the publicly and privately funded health-care systems simultaneously. While we may not all agree on the form Canada’s health-care system of the future should take, we can all agree that the status quo is simply not working. In a Second Street poll this year, 62 percent of Canadians said our quality of health-care services is either “poor” or merely “fair.” So tell us your stories about Canadian health care. You can do so by emailing The Hub’s editorial team directly at editorial@thehub.ca. Please keep your entry to no longer than 250 words and provide your name and the province you reside in. Make “HEALTH-CARE STORY” the subject line of your email. Or, you can leave a comment of the same length in the comment thread below for this article. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks so much. Stay safe out there.