Families of children with heart problems pledge to raise $1 million for cardiac team at the Montreal Children's Hospital

Au Coeur de la vie/The Heart of Life, a support and fund-raising group associated with The Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation, today announced a $1 million fund-raising campaign to support equipment and training for the cardiac team at The Montreal Children's Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC).

The announcement was made at a news conference held to bring the public up to date on the condition of 3-year-old Émile Jutras. Émile made headlines hundreds of times last year when he spent a total of 126 days on life support at The Children's after a rare viral infection caused his heart to fail. His rare blood type made the wait for a suitable heart a long one. He finally received his transplant one year ago today, on July 3, 2002.

In making the announcement, Heart of Life president Gary Silverman also announced that Émile's parents, Sherley Grondin and Steeve Jutras, are throwing their support behind the campaign.

Au Coeur de la vie/The Heart of Life is made up of parents, grandparents, friends and heart specialists, as well as all the children followed in cardiology and cardiovascular surgery at The Montreal Children's Hospital. They organize social events for children, their families, and doctors in settings other than the hospital. They also organize fund-raising activities to purchase state-of-the-art equipment and to fund research and training for cardiology and cardiovascular surgery.