The recently shared stories of Trevor and Sara, reflect the resilience required to face leukemia and blood cancers — and the meaningful role donor support plays in strengthening care across our region. Cancer has a way of entering all our lives, whether personally or through someone we love. For Dr. Terrence Comeau, Hematologist and Director of the New Brunswick Stem Cell Transplantation Program, these stories are deeply personal. Trevor and Sara were his patients.

Through his work, Dr. Comeau sees every day how a cancer diagnosis can alter the course of a life. Each patient reinforces the importance of having advanced treatments, specialized equipment, and an environment where compassion and clinical excellence go hand in hand — resources made possible through the generosity of the community.

When Trevor returned to hospital exhausted and facing severe complications from graft-versus-host disease, the road ahead was daunting. Yet he shared how grateful he was to be cared for at the Saint John Regional Hospital, describing it as a place that felt safer and kinder during a prolonged hospital stay. That sense of reassurance, Dr. Comeau knows, has real impact on patients and families and is strengthened by donor support.

Sara’s journey reflects the endurance required of so many facing cancer. Arriving fatigued, bruised, and uncertain about the future, she continued forward with determination and courage. Supporting patients like Sara requires more than medical expertise alone — it depends on access to evolving treatments, essential technology, and care teams committed to seeing the person beyond the diagnosis.

Thanks to donor generosity, the hospital has access to vital apheresis equipment required for stem cell transplantation and future cellular therapies. These investments help patients receive complex, life-saving care closer to home and allow the hospital to continue advancing cancer services for the community it serves.

As Dr. Comeau has said:

“Our ability to care for patients through some of the most difficult moments of their lives depends on having the right tools, the right expertise, and a community that believes in what we do.”