Maude Boissonneault, 18, has been fighting to stay healthy since birth, while Anne-Sara Cayer, 22, has been battling on the mats since she was 7. Fighters in their own way, they invite you to come give blood on September 26 at the Salle Anastasia in Lyster, during the Héma-Québec blood drive. They will provide their valuable collaboration to the members of the Fermières and the Knights of Columbus in the area.
Maude has a congenital disease that primarily affects her heart, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. At the age of 4 and a half, she underwent open-heart surgery to remove part of the muscle on the right side of her heart (right septal myectomy). When she was 15, doctors implanted a cardiac defibrillator as a preventative measure. She recently received a heart transplant.
Learning to live with this disease is a great battle that Maude has courageously fought since birth. In high school, unable to play sports and having to limit her physical efforts, her difference was felt. All these difficulties encountered have made her stronger and have allowed her to develop her courage, her perseverance, her ambition, her understanding and her respect for others.
Anne-Sara Cayer knows the importance of enjoying good health in order to perform in her passion for martial arts. Multiple times Canadian champion (WKC) and world champion (WKU and WKC) in kickboxing, she is now preparing for the 2028 Olympic Games. She is very aware that, while in competition she fights for victory, other people like Maude must fight every day for their life, their health. She also wanted to give back by collaborating in this important blood drive. Maude and Anne-Sara are well aware that giving blood is important, because we never know if one day we will need this precious gift. !
Maude also invites everyone to sign their health insurance card for organ donation. This way, you can help or save several patients waiting for your organs, including your heart. “Life hangs by a thread. We never know what awaits us,” she insisted.
On September 26, by donating blood, you will save four lives.
To make an appointment: 1 800 343-7264
About Héma-Québec
Respond efficiently to the needs of the Quebec population for quality blood and other biological products of human origin.
About Transplant Québec
At the heart of the collective effort of Quebecers to save lives or improve the health of people in need of organ transplants, Transplant Québec:
– coordinates the organ donation process leading to transplantation and thus promotes the greatest possible availability of quality organs;
– ensures fairness in the allocation of organs, according to relevant ethical and clinical criteria;
– supports the improvement of clinical practices in establishments through training and hospital development activities, and through its collaboration in teaching and research initiatives related to donation/transplantation;
– acts as a catalyst for the development of interdependencies in the donation/transplantation system, as an agent for consultation and mobilization of the system’s stakeholders;
– promotes values of solidarity favorable to donation/transplantation in the general population, among health professionals and with the institutions concerned.
