Brain and heart disease deaths will hopefully one day be a tragedy of the distant past if it’s up to Local 6500 and its president, Rick Bertrand. The USW local presented a check for $65,000 to the Sam Bruno Scanner Fund in 2014, the single largest donation the organization has received since it started its campaign to get Sudbury a PET scanner in 2010.
A PET scanner is a medical detection tool used in clinical oncology to help detect brain diseases, such as various types of dementia, as well as heart disease. It is also an important research tool to map normal brain and heart functions. Of the nine machines in Ontario, one is located in Thunder Bay; the rest are in southern and eastern Ontario.
“We can’t put a number on people’s lives,” Rick said. “No one should be driving down south, especially when they’re ill.”
There is still a long way to go to reach the hefty $4 million price tag, but Rick and his local’s significant donation brings the fundraising committee one huge step closer. The fund was named in honor of Sam Bruno, who lost his battle to cancer in 2010 and who was a strong advocate for bringing a PET scanner to northern Ontario.
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