Make lifesaving treatment available to all

Re: “Wow, an amazing recovery,” Sept. 19. The article outlining the indisputable benefits and success of the new endovascular treatment for stroke victims was of great personal interest to me. It was also pertinent to many others, I’m sure.

My mother had two devastating strokes, the last of which left her paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. While having no regrets, I ended up putting my life aside to be her primary caregiver 24/7 for her last eight years. We, thankfully, had the assistance of publicly funded home support several times a day during that challenging time.

The financial and psychological toll of a life-altering stroke are incomprehensibly devastating to the victims and their families. Major strokes also often lead to a significant reliance on government funding for caregiving or facility care.

The $10,000 cost of the EVT procedure is, without question, an absolute bargain by comparison, and seems destined to result in noteworthy health-system economies. And that’s not even taking into account that peoples’ lives can be prevented from being exasperatingly compromised for their remaining lifetime, or an untimely and preventable death avoided.

Surely, making EVT available provincewide through the MSP program is a humane and wise strategy, particularly in this time of a noteworthy budget surplus, and a provincial election only months away. Danny Foster Saanich