Jace

As a healthy multi-sport athlete, 13-year-old Jace from Saskatoon, SK never thought he’d have to spend time at Saskatchewan’s Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital (JPCH).

 In October of 2022, Jace started to experience flu-like symptoms before things took a turn. He had a severe case of cellulitis, a bacterial skin infection, which lead Jace to Saskatchewan’s only Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at JPCH where he was in a coma for five days.

Jace spent most of his recovery at JPCH’s pediatric unit. The seventh grader says it was an extremely tough month.

“There was lots of treatments, oxygen, breathing tubes and wires hooked up to me. It was scary to say the least,” Jace said.

However, there were also happier moments at JPCH, including being reunited with his brothers and having visits from the Saskatoon Blades and Saskatoon Blazers. He says he feels fortunate for his experience in hospital.

“It makes me feel really good that I had an opportunity like this. The doctors can care for us with all the operations and their equipment. The rooms are made to be very calming and some of the views were great,” Jace said.

Thanks to the specialized care he received at JPCH, Jace is fully recovered and back doing everything he loves. He even won a provincial championship with his hockey team this past season – something that feels like a huge comeback after his health scare.