If you\u2019re shaky on your feet, don\u2019t worry, Rachel Oates has your back. Rachel is a physical therapist, working as an acute care therapist at Victoria General Hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s mostly mobility. How do we teach people to get in and out of bed, on and off the toilet, give them gait aids, set them up with programs,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
And she\u2019s really good at what she does.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s one where he was close to both of us. He was bed-ridden and I watched that man get out of a wheelchair and walk towards me because of her,\u201d says Rachel\u2019s husband, Mark Cunnin.<\/p>\n
But Rachel is so much more than her job.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s my glorious daughter-in-law,\u201d says Shirley Cunnin.<\/p>\n
\u201cMark and I have a joke saying if he louses things up, Rachel is coming with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watch the story below:<\/p>\n
Mark and Rachel have been married for 14 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cA nurse I knew introduced us. She says, \u2018We have a new physio from Edmonton who likes to do belly dancing,\u2019\u201d Mark says.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s right, belly dancing. Specifically, tribal fusion dance, one of Rachel\u2019s hobbies.<\/p>\n
But perhaps what she\u2019s most passionate about is working with the Canadian Association of Medical Teams Abroad (CAMTA).<\/p>\n
Quito, Ecuador, is where CAMTA does its work.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we do is we provide total hip replacements to individuals in Ecuador who otherwise couldn\u2019t afford the surgery, and corrective surgery for kids with club feet, hip dysplasia,\u201d says Rachel.<\/p>\n
This year, Rachel will be making her 20th volunteer trip.<\/p>\n
\u201cI keep going back because the people that we help are so appreciative and so grateful, and I find when I go there it feeds my soul.\u201d<\/p>\n
The CAMTA stint is usually around Mark\u2019s birthday, but he doesn\u2019t mind. In fact, he loves her commitment, and it\u2019s pretty clear that he loves everything about her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think God cried when he sent that angel down to me. She\u2019s one of the best and I\u2019m so happy to have her,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
And he\u2019s not the only one.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s a little quirky, but delightfully so, and there\u2019s never ever a negative thought when it comes to Rachel,\u201d says Shirley. \u201cI\u2019m honoured to be in her life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether in Ecuador, at Vic General, or in her own backyard with her devoted family, Rachel is passionate about giving back.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a calling, right? I look at it as, if somebody has a problem and I know that I may have the skills and the knowledge to actually help that individual, why wouldn\u2019t I?\u201d she says.<\/p>\n