Harold's Story

Harold and his wife were on a fixed income, but had still managed to save three years’ worth of income tax refunds for new windows and siding for the family home in Corner Brook. They finally had enough for all the repairs, but opted to do just the windows to start, and wait a year to finish the rest. The decision, they say, “was an act of God… a blessing.” When Harold was diagnosed with prostate cancer in May 2006, they needed all the extra money they could get to pay for travel and treatments in St. John’s.

The financial pressures came right away, for everyone in the Russell family. On Harold’s first trip to St. John’s, he, his wife, his son and daughter-in-law made the eight-hour drive to the capital city together. His son took time off from his job to support his Dad and they all stayed at a hotel. By the time Harold had to make a second trip for surgery, the bills were starting to pile up and his son was missing more work. To make matters worse, when Harold was released from hospital, he felt far too miserable for the road trip back to Corner Brook. That meant facing yet another unexpected expense. Harold couldn’t afford extra hotel time to recuperate in St. John’s, so he and his wife bought plane tickets home, and his son and daughter-in-law made the return drive alone. “It would have been nice to have had a place to call my own,” Harold says, “where I could have gone to recover for a few days before the drive back.”

Read Chuck Conley's Story