SUBBAN WINS A FAN OFF THE ICE
Donation led to life-changing surgery
Joy Phillips has never met P.K. Subban and she’s not a Nashville Predators fan.
But Phillips can’t thank the former Canadiens defenceman enough for what he did to help her daughter Coraleigh Kieran through P.K.’s Helping Hand, his fund at the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation dedicated to assisting vulnerable families dealing with a child’s illness.
A year before the Canadiens traded him to Nashville last summer, Subban pledged $10 million over seven years to the Montreal Children’s Hospital. More than $2 million has been raised so far and more than $5,000 of that went to pay for a bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) for 13-yearold Coraleigh. The cost of a BAHA is covered in some other provinces, but isn’t paid for by the Quebec government.
Coraleigh was born with branchio-oto-renal (BOR) syndrome, a genetic disorder involving the kidneys, ears and neck. She was hospitalized at Montreal Children’s for much of the first year of her life before BOR syndrome was diagnosed. Coraleigh was completely deaf in her right ear and couldn’t hear anything under 10 decibels in her left ear before getting her BAHA last year.
“It took her a while to get used to it when we first put it on her,” said Coraleigh’s mother, who grew up in a family of Boston Bruins fans and lives in the Montérégie region, southwest of Montreal. “She was saying that she couldn’t hear out of her left ear anymore because there was so much noise coming from her right ear.”
Coraleigh — who is a Canadiens fan like her father Mike Kieran — now hears well in both ears.
“I’m very, very grateful,” Phillips said. “I think it was an amazing thing for P.K. Subban to donate all this money. There’s so many families that benefit from the Children’s Hospital. We’ve been a part of the Children’s basically since she was born. I just wish I had something to give back to them. I don’t have millions that I can donate to them … I feel like they’ve done so much and I have nothing to give back but my thanks.”
What would Phillips say to Subban if she got a chance to meet him?
“I don’t know,” the mother said before pausing.
Then she added: “I would tell him I’m eternally grateful for what he has done and it’s such an amazing thing. I’m sure so many children have benefitted from this and I’m very grateful. My daughter really needed this. I’m just really, really happy. He couldn’t have picked a better place to do this.”
Subban decided to honour his $10-million commitment to the hospital despite being traded to Nashville, which didn’t surprise Kim Fraser, vice-president of marketing and communications for the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation.
“I’ll be honest with you ... we were waiting for the phone call,” Fraser said. “But we were not surprised that he decided to keep his commitment. The P.K. that we know is someone who is extremely focused. It was very important for him to give back to the city of Montreal. He was extremely grateful to the Montreal Canadiens for allowing him to play hockey here and also to (financially) look after his parents and his family, giving him the means to do that. He wanted to leave his mark on the city and he was very committed to that.”
Fraser said Subban wanted the money from P.K.’s Helping Hand to have a direct impact, supporting initiatives that touch patients and their families and support them directly. Projects funded by P.K.’s Helping Hand include housing for out-of-town families, parking, meal vouchers, grocery gift cards and other general expenses, as well as financial aid and expensive medical procedures not covered by the government like BAHAs.
“To have someone like P.K. throw their support behind the Montreal Children’s Hospital meant the world to the people who work there and the families who have no choice and have to go to the hospital ... nobody chooses to go to the hospital,” Fraser said. “A lot of times (hospital staff ) toil away in obscurity, but it’s a validation that what they’re doing is appreciated and it’s a validation for many of the families that they’re not alone.”
Kids and staff at the Montreal Children’s Hospital posted a video on Twitter May 13 of them singing Happy Birthday to Subban when he turned 28.
Coraleigh’s mother said she will remain a Bruins fan, but has also become a huge Subban fan, as are the people at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, who are certainly hoping he will bring the Stanley Cup there if the Predators win it. The Predators and Ducks are tied 2-2 in the best-ofseven Western Conference final heading into Game 5 Saturday (7:15 p.m., CBC, TVA Sports).
While with the Canadiens, Subban said his biggest goal was to bring the Cup to Montreal.
It might still happen.