Keep your loved ones close, and take nothing for granted. Those are among the heartfelt values now guiding baby Maria’s parents following a terrifying ordeal that saw the newborn girl face a battle for life at birth. Fortunately, the family was in the skilled hands of the neonatal intensive care team at BC Women’s Hospital, which was supported by the generosity of donors to the TB Vets Charitable Foundation.
A year ago, Maria’s mother underwent an emergency C-section after being rushed to hospital following an ultrasound. Maria was diagnosed with severe hydrops, a life-threatening buildup of fluids in her lungs and chest cavity. Many newborns with this condition do not survive.
After Maria’s birth, the medical team started their lifesaving work to drain the fluid. Inside an incubator, Maria was intravenously given antibiotics, fentanyl, and food. She was placed on the highest level of jet ventilator, which is meant to provide the most fragile newborns with a gentle and effective mode of ventilation.
Taking the situation day by day, Amanda couldn’t help but notice the specialized ventilator helping Maria breathe had been purchased with help from donors to TB Vets. Among those donations was a legacy gift left in a donor’s Will.
Leaving a gift in a Will is a powerful act of generosity that can make a world of difference for charities like TB Vets. It is also a form of philanthropy that people may not realize is within their capacity to make.
To help dispel the myths around leaving a gift in your Will, TB Vets is taking part in Will Power, a national campaign designed to show Canadians that they can make a significant impact on the causes they care about with a gift in their Will.
According to Will Power, there are five common myths:
I can’t support both loved ones and my favourite causes. A quick calculation can demonstrate that a small percentage of the estate left to charity still leaves plenty to support the loved ones.
I need to be wealthy to make a gift to charity in my Will. Most charitable gifts in Wills are left by Canadians of average means; and a charitable gift in a Will can go a long way toward reducing the amount of taxes on the estate.
Leaving a gift in a Will is complicated. Leaving a gift to charity in the estate can be as easy as adding a clause to a Will. A lawyer or notary can take care of adding it in.
I’ve already written my Will, and there is no going back. The truth is that a Will can be amended at any time.
I will not see the impact of the gift I make in my Will. Most people will never be able to make as big a gift during their lifetime as in their Will, when the value of the estate is realized. But it’s possible to see the impact of a future gift through stories like Maria’s.
Maria stayed on that donor-funded ventilator for a week before she graduated to other forms of breathing assistance and eventually doing it on her own.
After that first week, Maria seemed to progress a little every day. Gradually, the tubes came out, Maria took her first unassisted breath, and her parents heard her voice and held her for the first time.
Just over a month later, mom and dad were able to take Maria home, an incredible reward after a very tiring medical scare.
In addition to being grateful for the dozens of experts from BC Women’s Hospital, the family is thankful to donors who have helped TB Vets arm the medical frontline in the fight for respiratory care.
It is through stories like this, stories of babies and adults whose lives have been saved or improved in so many ways, that we can see the power that people have to make a change through their Wills. If more Canadians realized the impact of gifts in Wills, we could see millions of dollars directed toward creating a better world. It is something to think seriously about, and TB Vets invites you to explore this powerful way to make a difference: Will Power.
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