Atrium food court

By Mary Ormsby Feature Writer Fri., July 13, 2018 George Chuvalo sat chatting with two friends near the rear entrance of Pancer’s deli. At a reserved table, so the big man who uses a cane to assuage sore knees could skirt the bustling lunch crowd. A server slid a loaded plate before the 80-year-old, who thanked her. Chuvalo methodically chewed through thick pastrami wedges on rye. Then fries and pickle chunks. Later, with a large mitt holding a tiny spoon over a fountain glass, he delicately scooped out creamy rice pudding — his favourite dessert, says Tom Doyle, who with Lee Caprio doubled as chaperoning chauffeurs for the retired pro boxer. Chuvalo, who famously went 15 rounds with Muhammad Ali, now requires constant supervision. Even for a lunch outing. The Toronto heavyweight is in dementia’s unyielding grip, his urgent health needs complicated by a messy three-year divorce battle. Chuvalo’s son Mitch and daughter Vanessa say … [Read more...] about George Chuvalo’s volunteer army keeps fighting for the champ

By Paul Hunter Feature Writer Fri., June 15, 2018 Home, Jon Friel understands more clearly than ever, is not the house he owns on an acre of land just outside Port Perry; it hasn’t been since November. Nor is it the two-bedroom apartment at Ronald McDonald House where his wife beds down each night after kissing him goodnight. Home now, as it has been for months, is 200 square feet or so on the 8th floor of Sick Kids Hospital in the haematology/oncology unit. In this room the 35-year-old eats his meals, usually with plastic cutlery from a cardboard takeout box, welcomes visitors and gets a fitful sleep on a hard vinyl mattress. This is where Jon now lives. His heart is here because his ailing daughter Harper is here also. He rarely leaves. Harper, 4, was diagnosed with brain cancer in November. She had a golf-ball sized tumour removed during six hours of emergency surgery the day after she arrived at the hospital. She has undergone five rounds of … [Read more...] about When home is a hospital room: A daughter’s fight, a father’s love