Krysta and her children
A little sister grows up to be a nurse, inspired by the memory of her big sister.
The clinical manager of a family medicine practice in Stoney Creek was organizing a COVID-19 vaccination clinic and wanted to get the word out. In the note that popped up in my inbox, she explained, “We don’t want to just sit on the sidelines when we have so much capacity to serve the community.” She added, “Do you remember me?”
Every May, thoughts turn to the McMaster Children’s Hospital Celebration I co-hosted on CHCH-TV with Dan McLean for 17 years. It was an incredible whirlwind of a weekend; brave, young patients and their families, together with dedicated teams of doctors and nurses, sharing their inspiring stories. I can honestly say it was the most humbling and emotionally intense experiences of my career. Many friendships were forged.
I have kept in touch with a number of these families over the years. And so it was, when a name I hadn’t heard in close to two decades came across my desk, that yes, I remembered Krysta Pouliot (now Simoes). She was the little sister of a beautiful young girl named Shannon, one of our Mac Kids TV stars. While most of our patients profiled went on to live healthy lives, the reality is, not all did. Our production team was devastated back then when we learned the news about Shannon Pouliot, who lost a very valiant battle with cancer. Both girls were beautiful skaters and I will always remember Krysta performing a heartfelt tribute to her beloved big sister to the song, “The Wind Beneath my Wings.”
Krysta had apparently mentioned being a nurse as a very young child but her destiny remained a mystery until the family’s journey with Shannon. “It’s the sole reason I am where I’m at today. My entire goal in life was to help people the way certain special nurses helped my sister.”
As fate would have it, Krysta’s first job took her to the same oncology ward at McMaster Children’s Hospital, where she had spent time with Shannon and her parents Bob and Cathy throughout those many difficult months. ER nursing followed and then, motherhood. Destiny intervened once more when she heard that family physician Dr. Steven Zizzo was looking for a nurse.
Six years later Winterberry Family Medicine has grown under Krysta as clinical manager. “With this vaccination clinic it truly feels like we are saving people’s lives and I can’t think of a more rewarding thing to do with your life than be a nurse.”
Her voice trembles when she describes the moment she learned a patient, just diagnosed with breast cancer, was desperately trying to book her second shot. Krysta found a spot for her that afternoon. So relieved, the woman sat down when she came in and cried. Krysta said she wanted to sit and cry with her. “It hits close to home. I know exactly what you go through with a cancer diagnosis. It touched me that I could help her in that way.”
Throughout her years helping grow Winterberry Family Medicine, Krysta says every success, no matter how large or small has always been recognized by management and she credits Dr. Zizzo and his team for shaping the nurse, the “hands-on and caring kind,” she has become. Today she and her husband are the parents of three; her eldest, a daughter is named Shannyn (with a “Y”).
It’s one of those milestone years: 19 years this coming October that Shannon lost her battle with cancer at the age of 19. Krysta was 16. The Pouliot family celebrate Shannon’s birthday May 28 but they about talk about “Auntie Shannon” every day as the tears and laughter flow. Krysta knew she would carry a piece of her sister with her for the rest of her life. There are a couple of tattoos and a treasured memory bench in her back garden with the inscription, “So young, so sweet, so soon.” There is also the gift of purpose: “If you can change the life of just one person, it means the world and as a nurse I get to do that every day.”
Connie Smith, former CHCH News anchor, is a media professor at Mohawk College. Reach her at conniesmith.ca.
Click here to read the full article on the Hamilton Spectator website.
See the update on Krysta’s Inspiration!