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Help Suzanne Aucoin
Nov 11, 2007 - The St. Catharines Standard
Suzanne Aucoin's brave battle with cancer is over
'She was at peace'
Her acceptance finally came with a slight smile and a single tear as she slipped away.
With her two brothers and a close friend at her bedside, cancer fighter Suzanne
Aucoin died early Sunday morning — nearly two weeks after she was admitted to
Hospice Niagara’s palliative care centre in St. Catharines.
Suzanne, 37, an outspoken advocate for improved health care for Ontario cancer
patients, died at approximately 3 a.m.
“She opened her eyes. She was happy. She smiled. She had one tear come out of her
eye, and I swear it was a tear of joy. She was at peace,” brother Gerald recounted
Sunday night at his mother’s home in Port Dalhousie.
Suzanne’s peace came after a fierce fight on two fronts — the terminal colorectal
cancer she was diagnosed with four years ago and a provincial health system she felt
doesn’t provide equitable care to cancer patients.
“You can’t say enough about the fight she put up. She just didn’t want to go,”
brother Brendan said. “She made the decision just not to accept it.”
Suzanne fought much of her battle against cancer in the public eye, hoping to spur
changes to a provincial health system she felt was far too difficult for cancer patients
to navigate.
She lobbied the government to provide patients greater and easier access to cancer
drugs that are currently not funded in Ontario.
Earlier this year, her advocacy paid off with a major victory.
Ontario’s ombudsman blasted the provincial Health Ministry for mishandling Suzanne’s
application to receive out-of-country coverage for cancer-fighting drugs in the U.S.
Acting on the ombudsman’s recommendations, the ministry agreed to repay her about
$76,000 she spent on the cancer drug Erbitux in New York and Ontario, as well as the
legal costs she racked up trying to recover her money.
The government also announced a review of its out-of-country drug-coverage program
to ensure other patients don’t get caught in the bureaucratic red tape that Suzanne
faced.
“She showed that it’s OK to question our government and make sure they make
changes,” Brendan said.
“Suzanne exposed a lot of weaknesses in the system for herself and how they failed
her.”
And Suzanne’s decision to be so public about her private life and the challenges she
faced inspired people across the province.
Among them was Rita Smith of Thorold who supported Suzanne’s fight by penning
letters to numerous politicians, arguing for improvements to the health system.
“It was dreadful what that woman went through and totally unnecessary,” she said.
Instead of cancer associations raising money solely for research, Smith said she’d like
to see a centralized fund created to help cancer patients pay for medicatons that are
not covered through OHIP.
“If you’re ill with cancer and you’re on these drugs with the effects they have, do you
really have the stamina to fight?” she said.
Maurice Charboneau watched Suzanne develop into a powerful advocate from the time
she was a young teenager.
Charbonneau, a retired principal with Niagara’s Catholic school board, first met
Suzanne when she began attending Holy Cross Secondary School after moving to St.
Catharines in 1984.
He later hired her to serve as chaplain at St. Francis Secondary School for a year and
then put her on staff in the same position at Denis Morris.
Even as a student, Suzanne championed social justice issues and was an advocate for
schoolmates, he said.
“She was fearless. If there was an injustice, she didn’t care who she had to tangle
with. I saw that in her even as a 14-year-old,” he said.
Charbonneau said Suzanne displayed the same grit when it came to battling the
provincial government over inequities in funding and access to cancer drugs.
“I knew that with her courage and determination something was going to give, and it
wasn’t going to be Suzanne.”
In addition to her brothers, Suzanne is survived by her mother, Janet. Her father,
Norm, died unexpectedly of a heart attack in August.
Arrangements for a memorial service are still being finalized.
Suzanne Aucoin's brave battle with cancer is over
'She was at peace'
Her acceptance finally came with a slight smile and a single tear as she slipped away.
With her two brothers and a close friend at her bedside, cancer fighter Suzanne
Aucoin died early Sunday morning — nearly two weeks after she was admitted to
Hospice Niagara’s palliative care centre in St. Catharines.
Suzanne, 37, an outspoken advocate for improved health care for Ontario cancer
patients, died at approximately 3 a.m.
“She opened her eyes. She was happy. She smiled. She had one tear come out of her
eye, and I swear it was a tear of joy. She was at peace,” brother Gerald recounted
Sunday night at his mother’s home in Port Dalhousie.
Suzanne’s peace came after a fierce fight on two fronts — the terminal colorectal
cancer she was diagnosed with four years ago and a provincial health system she felt
doesn’t provide equitable care to cancer patients.
“You can’t say enough about the fight she put up. She just didn’t want to go,”
brother Brendan said. “She made the decision just not to accept it.”
Suzanne fought much of her battle against cancer in the public eye, hoping to spur
changes to a provincial health system she felt was far too difficult for cancer patients
to navigate.
She lobbied the government to provide patients greater and easier access to cancer
drugs that are currently not funded in Ontario.
Earlier this year, her advocacy paid off with a major victory.
Ontario’s ombudsman blasted the provincial Health Ministry for mishandling Suzanne’s
application to receive out-of-country coverage for cancer-fighting drugs in the U.S.
Acting on the ombudsman’s recommendations, the ministry agreed to repay her about
$76,000 she spent on the cancer drug Erbitux in New York and Ontario, as well as the
legal costs she racked up trying to recover her money.
The government also announced a review of its out-of-country drug-coverage program
to ensure other patients don’t get caught in the bureaucratic red tape that Suzanne
faced.
“She showed that it’s OK to question our government and make sure they make
changes,” Brendan said.
“Suzanne exposed a lot of weaknesses in the system for herself and how they failed
her.”
And Suzanne’s decision to be so public about her private life and the challenges she
faced inspired people across the province.
Among them was Rita Smith of Thorold who supported Suzanne’s fight by penning
letters to numerous politicians, arguing for improvements to the health system.
“It was dreadful what that woman went through and totally unnecessary,” she said.
Instead of cancer associations raising money solely for research, Smith said she’d like
to see a centralized fund created to help cancer patients pay for medicatons that are
not covered through OHIP.
“If you’re ill with cancer and you’re on these drugs with the effects they have, do you
really have the stamina to fight?” she said.
Maurice Charboneau watched Suzanne develop into a powerful advocate from the time
she was a young teenager.
Charbonneau, a retired principal with Niagara’s Catholic school board, first met
Suzanne when she began attending Holy Cross Secondary School after moving to St.
Catharines in 1984.
He later hired her to serve as chaplain at St. Francis Secondary School for a year and
then put her on staff in the same position at Denis Morris.
Even as a student, Suzanne championed social justice issues and was an advocate for
schoolmates, he said.
“She was fearless. If there was an injustice, she didn’t care who she had to tangle
with. I saw that in her even as a 14-year-old,” he said.
Charbonneau said Suzanne displayed the same grit when it came to battling the
provincial government over inequities in funding and access to cancer drugs.
“I knew that with her courage and determination something was going to give, and it
wasn’t going to be Suzanne.”
In addition to her brothers, Suzanne is survived by her mother, Janet. Her father,
Norm, died unexpectedly of a heart attack in August.
Arrangements for a memorial service are still being finalized.