LETTER: Thank you, Surrey Memorial, for saving my daughter\u2019s life<\/p>\n
Published 6:00 pm Thursday, April 16, 2026<\/p>\n
Editor,<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think there are enough words to truly express what my family experienced that day\u2014or the gratitude we feel.<\/p>\n
My 19-year-old daughter suddenly went into a severe allergic reaction. Within moments, her body was covered in hives, her face became swollen, and she collapsed onto the floor, vomiting. I was terrified. As a mother, watching your child struggle to breathe and not knowing what to do is one of the most helpless, frightening feelings imaginable.<\/p>\n
I called 911, and in that moment of panic, the calm voice on the other end became my lifeline. The operator stayed with me, guiding me, grounding me, helping me hold on while everything felt like it was slipping away.<\/p>\n
And then, within minutes\u2014what felt like a miracle\u2014the fire department arrived. They moved quickly, confidently, and with such care. They administered the EpiPen and immediately began helping my daughter. Shortly after, the ambulance team arrived, and together they worked seamlessly to stabilize her. In those moments, I went from sheer panic to a fragile sense of hope\u2014because I could see she was in capable, caring hands.<\/p>\n
When we arrived at Surrey Memorial Hospital, the care did not stop\u2014it only deepened. As her hives worsened, the team responded immediately and gave her another EpiPen. She was given a bed quickly, something I will never take for granted given how overwhelmed hospitals can be.<\/p>\n
Dr. David S. King came to see her, and from the very first interaction, I felt a sense of reassurance. He treated not just my daughter\u2019s symptoms with urgency\u2014ordering blood tests and administering steroids\u2014but he treated us as people, as a family going through something frightening. The nurses were equally incredible, checking in often, making sure she was comfortable, and offering quiet moments of kindness that meant so much in such a chaotic time.<\/p>\n
What I will never forget is how Dr. King came back again to check on her\u2014and on me. He listened to my fears, my questions, my worries as a mother. He didn\u2019t rush. He didn\u2019t dismiss anything. In that moment, his compassion helped calm a fear that I couldn\u2019t put into words. It\u2019s something I will carry with me forever.<\/p>\n
When we were finally able to go home, I felt relief\u2014but also deep gratitude.<\/p>\n
And then, something happened that truly touched my heart. Two days later, Dr. King called us. He personally checked on my daughter\u2019s recovery and asked if we had been able to arrange an appointment with an allergist. That call meant everything. It reminded me that we weren\u2019t just another case\u2014that we mattered.<\/p>\n
To the teams at Surrey Memorial Hospital, the fire department, the ambulance services, and the 911 operator\u2014thank you will never feel like enough.<\/p>\n
In a moment where my world felt like it was falling apart, you were there. You brought skill, urgency, compassion, and humanity into one of the most frightening experiences of our lives.<\/p>\n
We often hear complaints, and it\u2019s easy to forget the incredible work that you do every single day. But I will never forget. My family will never forget.<\/p>\n
Because of all of you, my daughter is safe.<\/p>\n
Because of all of you, I got to bring my child home.<\/p>\n
From the bottom of my heart\u2014thank you.<\/p>\n
Amy Kanwar, Surrey <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LETTER: Thank you, Surrey Memorial, for saving my daughter\u2019s life Published 6:00 pm Thursday, April 16, 2026 Editor,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609829,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[49,48,87674],"class_list":["post-610179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}