Cycling to Boston for the sick little ones

Born with a serious heart defect, little Olivia escaped death thanks to the know-how of doctors based in Quebec and Boston. Seven years later, her father undertook to cycle more than 600 km which separates the two cities to thank them and celebrate the life of his daughter.

Leaving from the Center hospitalier de l’Université Laval (CHUL), where his daughter is receiving her treatment, Lévis’ father set sail on Friday morning for the Boston Children’s Hospital in the capital of Massachusetts, with 10 cycling friends who support his cause.


The young Olivia Suzor-Nadeau and her parents, Laurie Suzor-Pleau and Pierre Nadeau, Friday, at the CHUL of Quebec.  Mr. Nadeau is about to take on quite a challenge on his bike.

Photo Dominique Lelievre

The young Olivia Suzor-Nadeau and her parents, Laurie Suzor-Pleau and Pierre Nadeau, Friday, at the CHUL of Quebec. Mr. Nadeau is about to take on quite a challenge on his bike.

The objective is to raise funds for the En cœur foundation, which helps families like his, but also to pay tribute to the exceptional courage of his daughter and to the medical teams, on both sides of the border, who saved their lives.

“There will be big mountains during the second day, we will surely be exhausted”, says Pierre Nadeau in reference to the elevation of the White Mountains which are on his route.

“But it is nothing compared to the mountains that these children [malades] have to overcome,” he added before embarking on his three-day journey.


The father of a sick child pedals from Quebec to Boston

Photo Dominique Lelievre

Olivia Suzor-Nadeau was only a few weeks old when her troubles began. “We realized the extent of the damage to his heart. She had two holes in her heart, plus a leaky valve,” her father said.

The first surgeries were inconclusive. “There was no option left,” he says, except for an experimental procedure developed in Boston – the use of the Melody valve to replace a child’s mitral valve – which had never been attempted in Canada.

By a happy coincidence, the doctor who followed Olivia at the CHUL, the cardiac surgeon Frédéric Jacques, had become familiar with this procedure during a previous stay at Harvard.


The father of a sick child pedals from Quebec to Boston

Photo Dominique Lelievre

An example

The operation of several hours was a success on the child, who was then eight months old. In total, she will undergo 15 operations in her first year of life. Now 7 years old, her joie de vivre is contagious, despite her difficulties.

“It is sure that it is a handicapped child who has special needs [en matière] language, nutrition, [avec des] still in diapers at 7 years old, but she is happy, she is full of life, she makes us happy. We know that we have other challenges ahead of us, but during the time that we have this happiness, well, we take the opportunity to give back to the next,” testifies Pierre Nadeau.


The father of a sick child pedals from Quebec to Boston

Photo Dominique Lelievre

Dr. Jacques confirms that the progress of the little one is surprising. “She is an example of a fighter. She is a child who wants to live,” he concludes.

  • So far, Mr. Nadeau’s group has raised $32,000 for the En cœur foundation.


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