Gretzky to help raise funds for brain centre
A fundraising effort to construct a new neurological intensive care unit in Edmonton received a major shot in the arm Tuesday with news that Wayne Gretzky has signed on to help lead the project.
The Oilers legend will serve as honorary chairman of the University Hospital Foundation’s brain centre campaign, and is also donating $99,000 from his own foundation.
“Hopefully, I can give it some positive PR,” Gretzky told reporters following a swanky news conference that attracted some of the city’s top politicians, health leaders and philanthropists.
“Like a lot of things, Edmonton is leading the way in something new and innovative. That’s the goal here, to try to help as many people as we can.”
The hockey hall of famer noted he was partly attracted to the role due to his father’s experience with a brain aneurysm back in 1991. That episode left Walter Gretzky in a coma for a week, followed by 31/2 years in a clinic, giving his family a first-hand lesson in the effects of brain trauma and the possibilities of treatment.
Walter Gretzky, now almost 78, received some of the biggest cheers when he walked into the news conference Tuesday with his son. He didn’t speak, but waved and seemed to be in good spirits.
The brain centre campaign was launched several years ago and has already raised more than $45 million. A gamma knife, stroke ambulance and other innovations have already been purchased, but the foundation now wants to help the province develop new patient care facilities, particularly a new neuro ICU.
“That’s the jewel in the crown of the brain centre for patient care because that is where we send our most complex patients, acute stroke patients and epilepsy monitoring patients,” foundation president Joyce Mallman Law said.
The project has been estimated to cost up to $125 million, though the government is now working on more detailed plans. The foundation has yet to decide how much it will aim to contribute.