Charles MacDonald’s nickname is “The Hero” and it’s not hard to see why.
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it → ’ → ?
In January 1990, when he was 16, the car he was driving skidded on black ice in eastern Ontario near Prescott, was rammed by another driver, and burst into flames.
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he → drive → flames
MacDonald sustained burns to 85 per cent of his body.
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MacDonald → sustain → body
His family was told he’d be dead in two weeks.
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he → tell → weeks
Somehow, after dozens of surgeries, he survived, but it’s taken decades of myriad encounters with health care systems to remain alive.
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it → survive → systems
Now, at 54, MacDonald is in the midst of a bureaucratic foofaraw with the Ontario health care system which, if it persists, could result in the amputation of one of his feet.
uncertain
it → persist → feet
Charles, I first met you a couple of decades ago when you worked as an executive assistant for a Progressive Conservative MPP, at Queen’s Park.
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you → meet → Park
How are you doing?
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you → do → ?
Well, I’ve had better days.
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I → have → days
It’s a challenge these days.
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It → ’ → ?
We’ll get into why in a second, but first, how exactly did you not die in that car accident in January, 1990?
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you → get → January
As fate would have it, my old hockey coach was the volunteer firefighter that responded to the scene, and when I heard his name, he knelt beside me and he stayed with me all the way to Brockville and then Kingston.
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he → have → Brockville
Eventually, after seeing my story in local newspapers, the Shriners (hospital) in Boston looked us up and said, ‘We think he needs to go here.’
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he → see → us
I left the Kingston hospital “against medical advice“ there.
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I → leave → advice
The Shriners paid for all my treatment there.
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Shriners → pay → treatment
We flew out in a snowstorm and we couldn’t land.
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we → fly → snowstorm
Boston’s Airport was closed except for one runway that was being plowed.
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that → close → runway
We got security clearance and landed on it.
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We → get → it
It turns out, the Vice-President of the United States was in Boston and had to get out to Washington that night.
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President → turn → Washington
So if Dan Quayle hadn’t been there that night and they weren’t plowing his runway, I would have gone back to Kingston, and wouldn’t be here today.
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I → plow → Kingston
Some days, the stars really do have to align for things to work out, eh?
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things → have → ?
And when I met the Vice-President four years later when he was on a book tour, I told him he saved my life!
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he → meet → life
What happened at Shriners Hospital?
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What → happen → Hospital
I was 165 pounds of chiseled hockey player when I went in, and the next time they weighed me I was 90.
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I → go → me
What did you see when you looked in the mirror?
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you → see → mirror
I saw that there was one person responsible for my success or my failure.
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I → see → success
It was going to be me and that’s it.
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that → go → ?
Your 20 years at Queen’s Park certainly helped you understand how to navigate the health care system, how to get services for constituents, etc., yes?
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you → help → .
You have a lot of people that are in need and they don’t know how to navigate a Goliath of a government.
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they → have → government
So they call their local MPP and I navigate for them.
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I → call → them
So, you know how to do this, and yet even you’re having trouble accessing health care for yourself.
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you → know → yourself
What’s going on?
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What → go → ?
Last December, I noticed that my right ankle was changing and its angle was shifting.
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angle → notice → ?
And I went to my family doctor and asked for a referral but it didn’t go anywhere.
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it → go → referral
So, I needed a decision from OHIP for “out-of-country” services because I’ve been unable to get the medical care I need here in Ontario.
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I → need → Ontario
What do you need?
An ankle reconstruction of my right ankle.
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you → need → ankle
We did this in 2009 on the left ankle, but now it’s the right one.
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it → do → ankle
And what’s really shocking is that pretty much all the same players, all the same procedures and all the same obstacles are happening again, and it’s 2026.
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it → ’ → ?
Why are you unable to get this procedure in Canada right now?
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you → get → Canada
I can’t access a specialist to get it done.
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it → access → specialist
…and 66 more, not listed.
The Aporia
