Dialysis patient partnered with Subway to bring lunch for hospital staff
By James Tubb on February 17, 2024.
NEWS PHOTO ANNA SMITH
Don Munro poses for a photo at Subway in Medicine Hat.Anna Smith
Don Munro has been finding ways to show appreciation for the healthcare workers who have helped him during years of treatment in and out of hospital stays.
That first involved handing out gift cards for the coffee shop in hospital atrium, but since it’s closed during his Saturday dialysis treatment, Munro switched to brining in trays of Subway sandwiches.
That’s grown again as the local franchise owner is now on board to pitch in with the effort.
“Healthcare workers work so hard,” said Munro, a Hat resident who is awaiting a kidney transplant. “I’m really grateful to everyone; all the ambulance drivers, the people on the emergency floors, the people in the ICU, the people who helped me re-learn how to walk.
“They all do a lot, and it’s a hard job, so I’m happy to get some help in showing my appreciation for everything they do.”
Munro was diagnosed with kidney failure in 2005, and underwent a transplant surgery in 2006. Unfortunately, however, after 17 years, his donated kidney has begun to fail again.
“So now, I have to go and get myself another transplant,” said Munro. “I’m on the list, but in the meantime, I’m on dialysis.”
This healthcare journey has been long and difficult, said Munro, and includes a stay in the hospital where he had fallen extremely ill.
“I had pneumonia in my lungs, and I stopped breathing. They had to cut my throat and put a tracheostomy tube in, which took five doctors,” said Munro. “And while I was in the ICU, I was in a coma; those five doctors looked after me and kept me alive for three weeks.”
Over the course of his recovery, re-learning how to walk and beginning his dialysis treatment Munro feels he got to know much of the staff of the hospital quite well. During that time he discovered a problem for the nurses he would talk with on the Saturday shift.
“I started buying them Tim Hortons cards for coffee,” said Munro. “Which they really appreciated, but then I found out that Tim Hortons closes on Saturdays. They got no lunch. They had nowhere to go, sit down and eat lunch.”
After some brainstorming for a better way to make his gratitude known for the healthcare staff who had taken care of him for all this time, Munro landed on the idea to purchase platters of Subway sandwiches, providing a lunch for those on shift that day.
“So I’ve been ordering platters and sandwiches, and it came out of my own pocket quite a few times now,” said Munro. “Recently, though, I sat in the subway up here, and talked to the owner over my story. And he said he would donate them every Saturday.”
Munro expressed deep joy and gratitude for the generosity of the owner, and mentioned that it’s likely the Subway will get a plaque made to commemorate the donation in the near future.
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