“I Was Dead”
Published Sunday, February 23, 2025
Graham Milne, Hospital Foundation volunteer and supporter of the Tbaytel Motorcycle Ride for Dad, channels his personal cardiac experience to help raise awareness and support for local healthcare.
Why Graham Milne Volunteers for the Health Sciences Foundation
Volunteerism is a big part of Graham Milne's life. Since 2018, Graham has been a part of a volunteer organization that helps child victims of abuse recover from their trauma. His work with that organization led him to the Tbaytel Motorcycle Ride for Dad in a roundabout way, and he joined the committee about three years ago. Graham always admired the Tbaytel Motorcycle Ride for Dad – he is a long-time rider and participated in the event long before volunteering. He sees it as more than simply a fundraiser.
“I don't know what it is about us bikers – aside from being nuts – we're a generous crew by nature,” Graham said. “Usually when you see a bunch of bikers riding together, it's in support of some kind of charity. For the Motorcycle Ride for Dad, it's not just about raising funds but raising awareness.”
That message hit a bit closer to home last summer when his father was treated for prostate cancer. Now more than ever, Graham wants to get the message out. He also wants people to know that treatments are available right here in Thunder Bay. That's thanks largely to the incredible community support of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation, he said.
“If we want to excel and really provide the level of care that we require, it takes money,” Graham said. “The Foundation is the reason why the level of care keeps getting better and better here in Northwestern Ontario. It's a real honour working with these people.”
Graham sees firsthand what a difference local care can have. His family on his father's side has a history of heart disease including early heart attacks. But he wasn't thinking about it that day in Whitby, Ont., where they lived at the time. Graham was at home with his youngest son when he started to feel light-headed.
“When my wife got home from work, I told her that I was going to drive to the hospital to get checked out. She said I should call an ambulance, smart woman that she is. But I drove.”
He didn't make it. A passer-by gave him CPR on the side of the road while the ambulance came – luckily Graham had pulled over in time. He doesn't remember much from that week after being rushed to the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at Toronto General for an emergency angioplasty.
“I was dead,” Graham said. “A hundred percent blockage of the widow maker. So many things had to go right for me to be alive today.”
Because of his age – he was just 35 at the time – his family history, and the seriousness of the heart attack, doctors implanted an automatic defibrillator to shock the heart back in the case of another attack.
A few years later, Graham moved home to Thunder Bay when IBM, the company he works for, allowed him to telecommute. He said he receives excellent care at Curan's Heart Centre, where he goes for yearly checkups.
“Dr. Rohani has done a fantastic job,” Graham said. In fact, you could say she went above and beyond. Graham said that Dr. Rohani noticed a weird shadow on an ultrasound. That combined with a strange reading on one of the electrodes recording his heartbeat led to a trip back down to Toronto.
“Turns out one of the leads from the defibrillator implant broke off and was working its way through my heart. If it had broken through the heart wall, I would have been dead. Dr. Rohani saved my life for a second time.”
Graham is looking forward to the expansion of cardiac services in Thunder Bay, including the new Cardiovascular Surgery Program, scheduled to break ground this spring. That's a big part of what drives him, he said. In his mind, it doesn't matter if he's directly helping cardiac or cancer – it all helps.
“I'm hyperaware of the level of care we receive here in Northwestern Ontario,” Graham said. “Whatever I can do to help make that happen from volunteering for events to talking about the high level of care I receive, I'm happy to do it.”
You can volunteer for the Health Sciences Foundation's many events, too! For more information, please contact Haley Werbowetski, Manager of Events at haley.werbowetski@healthsciencesfoundation.ca or 807-684-7113.
Story by Graham Strong