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Canada set up a $50M vaccine injury. Those harmed say it's failing them

Canada set up a $50M vaccine injury. Those harmed say it's failing them

Global News02-07-2025
Kimberly MacDougall lay in a hospital bed beside her injured husband, Stephen, as his final moments came. She and their two kids held him as he took his last breath.
Stephen, 45, a service manager for a luxury automobile dealership, had been fighting to live for weeks in May 2021, but stopped struggling. She informed friends on social media that the man she loved, incredibly fit and with no prior health issues, wouldn't make it.
Outside the window of his intensive care room in Peterborough, Ont., an impromptu group of friends soon gathered to hold a vigil, in love and support.
'I saw things nobody should see and I wasn't equipped to deal with,' MacDougall remembered four years later. 'I watched them use the paddles on him. I watched them bag him.'
A rare adverse reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine left Stephen dead in his prime.
Ross Wightman, a former pilot and realtor, social worker Shannon Dupont, and kindergarten assistant Kayla Pollock also suffered life-altering injuries after their vaccinations.
These four people, and their families, were among millions of Canadians who rolled up their sleeves to get their shots during the pandemic.
For their loved ones, communities and country.
The largest public immunization in Canadian history reduced the spread of deadly disease, saving the lives of thousands of Canadians by mitigating the effects of the virus and reducing emergency room admissions. For most, vaccines slowly brought life back to normal.
But for a small group injured by their shots, life never returned to what it once was.
The 0.011 per cent
The government reassured the public that serious side effects were possible, but rare.
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There have been 11,702 reports of serious adverse events following a COVID-19 vaccination, according to Health Canada. That's equal to 0.011 per cent of the 105,015,456 doses administered as of December 2023.
As a way to help, then-prime minister Justin Trudeau announced the Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP) in December 2020.
The effort, which began six months later, aimed to support people who have been seriously and permanently injured by any Health Canada-authorized vaccine administered in the country on or after Dec. 8, 2020.
Approved claimants could receive lump sum injury or death payouts, ongoing income replacement, and reimbursement of medical expenses.
But instead of the government operating VISP, as is done with similar programs in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, Canada elected to outsource the work.
In March 2021, the government hired Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Consulting Inc. — now called Oxaro Inc. — to administer the program.
The challenges began soon after it launched.
A Global News investigation has uncovered complaints that the program has failed to deliver on its promise of 'fair and timely' access to financial support for the injured.
This five-month probe is based on more than 30 interviews with injured and ill people, former VISP workers, and attorneys who allege the effort is being mismanaged, leaving claimants feeling angry, abandoned, uncared for, and even abused.
'They promised to take care of us,' MacDougall added. 'They didn't fulfil their promise.'
This Global News investigation also revealed: Oxaro Inc., has received $50.6 million in taxpayer money. $33.7 million has been spent on administrative costs, while injured Canadians received only $16.9 million
PHAC and Oxaro underestimated the number of injury claims VISP would get, initially predicting 40 per year and then up to 400 valid claims annually. More than 3,000 applications have been filed — of those, 1,700 people are still waiting for their claim to be decided.
Some injured applicants say they face a revolving door of unreachable VISP case managers and fundraise online to survive.
Some say their applications were unfairly rejected by doctors they've never spoken to or met.
Despite decades of calls for a vaccine injury support program, the federal government cobbled it together during a pandemic.
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As Global News neared publication, a spokesperson for new Liberal Health Minister Marjorie Michel contacted the news organization and provided this statement:
'These allegations are completely unacceptable. The VISP supports people who are vulnerable and need support. I've asked PHAC to find a solution that ensures a responsible use of funds and that people receive the support they need. All options are on the table.'
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Minister of Health Marjorie Michel rises during Question Period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Monday, June 2, 2025. Adrian Wyld / Canadian Press
Neither the company nor PHAC were prepared for the surge of claims that arrived, former workers say.
Staff were too few and inexperienced to handle them all, other ex-staffers say.
One said VISP operations were plagued by many 'bottlenecks.'
Others described it as 'chaos.'
Oxaro and PHAC declined interview requests.
In response to a 15-page list of questions, the company said, 'The VISP is a new and demand-based program with an unknown and fluctuating number of applications and appeals submitted by claimants.'
Read the full Oxaro statement HERE.
'The program processes, procedures and staffing were adapted to face the challenges linked to receiving substantially more applications than originally planned,' Oxaro added. 'Oxaro and PHAC have been collaborating closely to evaluate how the program can remain agile to handle the workload on hand while respecting budget constraints.'
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The complexity of the claims filed can also affect processing timelines, Oxaro said.
PHAC, meanwhile, said it is reviewing Oxaro's five-year arrangement to administer VISP, which is up for renewal next year.
Read the full PHAC statement HERE.
The agency also wrote that it is weighing 'concerns raised by claimants and beneficiaries' and factoring in how other countries managed their respective programs.
Its goal: learn 'best practices' elsewhere, and ensure the future Canadian program is delivered 'in a fair, efficient and cost-effective manner.'
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Fair and efficient?
Don't talk to Becky Marie Campbell about fair and efficient.
Three weeks after her vaccination in April 2021, Campbell, a B.C. school teacher and mother of four, began to feel numbness in her legs while driving down the highway.
Soon, she was unable to walk and was subsequently hospitalized.
Like several others who became sick after shots, the perfectly healthy and fit Campbell was sent for a psychiatric evaluation when she raised the possibility of a link between her vaccine and illness.
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British Columbia resident Becky Marie Campbell became gravely ill after her vaccination, but was denied support by VISP even though her own doctor suggested her illness was 'most likely related' to the shot. Images courtesy Becky Campbell
A doctor later determined she was of sound mind.
As she prepared to leave the hospital after a month-long stay, Campbell said a staff member offered her a second vaccine shot. She cried. She left in a wheelchair, looking emaciated.
Campbell then applied to VISP in October 2021.
She racked up $20,000 in debt for treatments, medicines, mobility equipment and physiotherapies during her attempted recovery.
Campbell's own physician said her shot and illness were 'most likely related.'
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A partial view of Becky Marie Campbell's Vaccine Injury Support Program application, which was supported by her own physician. Courtesy: Becky Marie Campbell
Unidentified VISP physicians, however, rejected her claim on Sept. 6, 2022.
They said they found 'no peer-reviewed medical literature' that suggested a 'causal association' between her vaccination and subsequent illness at that time.
When she received the news, Campbell burst into tears: 'You didn't call me, you had no appointment with me,' she said, referring to the panel of three unidentified doctors which VISP hired to evaluate her file.
'They weren't part of my case at all, and they decided my fate? That's a little unfair.'
'I believed that living in Canada, I would be taken care of,' Campbell said.
'It wasn't about the money … It was about receiving support from my country. Instead, I felt I was faceless,' Campbell said. She did not appeal.
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Mike Becker of B.C., experienced severe pain, nausea, dizziness and huge blood clots in his right leg after receiving a vaccine in 2021. His right leg is now larger than the left. He is on blood thinners. Images courtesy Mike Becker
Mike Becker understands Campbell's anger and resentment.
VISP also rejected his application, even though pain and swelling in his leg began immediately following his vaccine shot and got worse every day until he went to the hospital nine days later.
His leg sears with burning pain at night from deep vein thrombosis, commonly known as blood clots.
The condition caused his right leg to swell like a balloon, four inches larger than the left.
He now suffers from dizziness and can no longer work as a carpet and furniture upholstery technician. Becker has had 30 doctor visits since his hospitalization in 2021, and takes blood thinners to avoid death.
Becker said VISP denied him support because his hospital hematologist failed to record his blood platelet levels, which would have confirmed causality between his vaccine and clots.
The VISP report, which included no physicians' names, acknowledged Becker's illness came shortly after his vaccination, but concluded the shot was 'unlikely' to have caused it.
However, VISP added a caveat: should the medical world's understanding of such events evolve and new evidence come to light, 'this case should be revisited and reconsidered.'
Unlike Campbell, Becker appealed. In November 2022, he informed his VISP case manager and sent in the necessary appeal paperwork.
Nobody then answered his emails for almost two years, he said.
Becker would not let it go.
Finally, a VISP case manager responded by email. She informed him that his case had been mistakenly closed, according to a copy of the correspondence obtained by Global News.
VISP had incorrectly recorded in its computers that there was no appeal, although his case manager knew Becker had appealed and filed the necessary documents.
'I have spoken with my manager and have asked that we fast-track your case so that we can rectify this timelapse of your case,' the new VISP case manager told him in the email.
Eleven months later, he says he's still waiting.
Becker calls VISP 'a big scam.'
'It's not working to help people injured like me.'
Phyisicians saw trouble coming
Some experts say things could have turned out differently.
For 40 years, physicians and public health officials in Canada had been calling for a federal, no-fault government vaccine injury support program. All other G7 countries, except Canada, had one.
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Dr. Kumanan Wilson had tried to persuade the federal government to launch a vaccine injury support program in Canada for years but was unsuccessful until the COVID-19 pandemic slammed the country. Trevor Owens / Global News
Among those stressing the need for such a program was Dr. Kumanan Wilson, CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of the Bruyère Health Research Institute. His research focuses on immunization and pandemic preparedness.
Before COVID-19, Dr. Wilson said he had 'a frustrating set of discussions' with the federal government. Creating a program, he said, 'kept dropping as a priority.'
Dr. Wilson said he warned officials about other countries' experiences with the programs.
'You don't want to stand these things up right in the middle of an emergency,' he said, noting it doesn't typically end well.
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Many of VISP's current woes might have been avoided if only it had begun earlier, Dr. Wilson said.
Pain and suffering
Kimberly MacDougall of Peterborough, Ont., has never spoken publicly about her husband's death until now. Her pain and suffering are easily seen on her face.
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Kimberly MacDougall lost her husband after he suffered a severe adverse reaction to his COVID-19 vaccine. Patrick Capati / Global News
MacDougall's husband, Stephen, then 45, died from myopericarditis post-COVID vaccine, leaving her a young widow of two children, then 9 and 12.
She received the maximum death benefit under PHAC guidelines, an amount equal to about three years of Stephen's salary.
Still, she believes the sum that PHAC and Oxaro paid out is unjustly low. Stephen expected to work 15 or more years in the luxury car business.
He had planned to fund their children's university educations and was a rising star in his world who was being headhunted.
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A family photo of Kimberly MacDougall, her late husband Stephen MacDougall and their children during happier times. Courtesy of Kimberly MacDougall
As a community leader, Stephen had encouraged many people to get vaccinated, but a series of disastrous events followed his immunization: the myopericarditis was a deadly inflammation of both his heart muscle and the lining outside it that claimed him in weeks.
MacDougall plunged into grief and trauma.
A family friend hired lawyer Lori Stoltz to file MacDougall's VISP claim.
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The VISP prepared this brochure to explain the process of applying and getting financial support to people injured by COVID-19 vaccines. Global News
While VISP brochures advertise that the program will 'continue to support you for as long as needed,' there was a cut-off time for MacDougall and her kids.
In addition to the death benefit, the program said it would only pay for enough grief therapy to cover weekly sessions for MacDougall and their children for a little over three months.
What's more, MacDougall said, VISP would only pay $100, roughly half the cost of each visit.
That's when Stoltz wrote a blistering letter to VISP, saying she was 'stunned' by the program's 'apparent institutional indifference' to the young family's 'suffering and need for financial support.'
VISP then conceded it would refund the full cost of each session. But the program dug in — 15 visits only.
'And then my kids are supposed to be fine?' MacDougall said, voice breaking. 'I'm supposed to be fine?'
She has been unable to return to work as an elementary school teacher.
MacDougall thinks VISP lacks humanity and is 'shameful.'
As she mourned her husband's death, she explained, a VISP case manager requested she get copies of his autopsy report and death certificate.
'It got to a point where everything was a battle. I didn't have any fight left in me. And that's kind of where I'm at, that's how I've moved forward,' MacDougall said. 'I don't want to fight anymore.'
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Lengthy delays
Toronto attorney Jasmine Daya called for a Vaccine Injury Support Program in November 2020, a month before the official government announcement.
Now, she and other attorneys harshly criticize the program. Daya calls it 'a sham.'
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Lawyer Jasmine Daya wanted the government to create a vaccine injury support program. Now, she thinks what was later created is a frustrating 'sham.' Trevor Owens / Global News
She says her numerous emails to VISP often only receive generic responses.
'Sometimes those auto emails say, 'Due to the high volume, we'll get back to you when we can,'' Daya added. 'I want to be able to do my job, which is to help these individuals, and I can't.'
Victoria lawyer Umar Sheikh also said VISP is 'incredibly difficult to deal with,' adding its findings are not necessarily reliable or fair to people, and they take too long.
A VISP brochure and its staff have told applicants that the average claim can take 12 to 18 months to process. But some have waited far longer.
Sheikh is helping several claimants with VISP battles, including Dan Hartman, an Ontario father who lost his 17-year-old son, Sean, in September 2021.
The teenager died alone in his bedroom in the middle of the night.
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The last photo Dan Hartman took with his son Sean before his sudden, unexplained death after his vaccination. Photo courtesy of Dan Hartman
Dan Hartman suffered emotional shock, taking time off work.
Three physicians from VISP rejected Hartman's first claim in 2022, denying the father's assertion that the vaccine was linked to his son's death.
Initially, a post-mortem examination characterized the cause of death as 'unascertained.'
The VISP report noted the post-mortem on Sean's body found 'mild R(ight) and L(eft) ventricular enlargement,' which a pathologist described as 'not uncommon in athletic young men.' Sean was a hockey player.
But the heart enlargement led Hartman to believe his son had a rare adverse reaction, so he appealed the VISP decision with new evidence in May 2023 and still waits.
Fed up, Hartman and Sheikh pressed VISP to explain its lengthy delays.
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Victoria attorney Umar Sheik is helping several VISP claimants with their battles with the program. Max Trotta / Global News
According to an email Global News reviewed, VISP staff replied that they have had trouble finding a forensic pathologist to examine the late Hartman's tissues.
Revisiting the case may confirm or disprove any causal link between the teen's vaccination and his death.
In the meantime, medical knowledge of adverse reactions has increased.
Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration told vaccine makers to expand warning labels on COVID-19 vaccines that would spell out the risks of possible heart injuries that afflict males aged 17-26, like Sean Hartman.
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Health Canada issued a similar warning for 'younger male adults and adolescents' in June 2021.
Still, Hartman waits.
Kayla's 'nightmare'
Kayla Pollock waits, too.
After first applying in 2022, Pollock's VISP application remains stuck in 'intake.'
Her injuries have not been assessed, she says.
She uses a wheelchair because of her transverse myelitis, a condition that involves swelling of her spinal cord and the loss of lower body functions. Medical research has documented hundreds of cases of transverse myelitis following COVID vaccination.
As a result of her illness, Kayla is no longer able to work.
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Kayla Pollock says she suffered a vaccine injury that damaged her spine. She mailed her VISP application in July 2022 and was told it was lost. She resubmitted her claim and said her case remains in 'intake' three years later. Dealing with VISP has been 'hell,' and a 'nightmare,' she says. Trevor Owens / Global News
She used to be a kindergarten assistant. Now, she receives Ontario disability support.
She lost her townhome. Her son's father is now his primary caregiver, and she sees their boy only on alternating weekends.
Pollock said things are so bleak for her that she requires personal support workers and has been offered Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID). In the absence of VISP support, she has been raising money online.
'Unfortunately, it costs me more to be alive than if I were dead,' Pollock says.
After waiting for three years, she no longer believes VISP will ever compensate her.
Approved... yet still outraged
Former pilot and realtor Ross Wightman understands the frustration, anger and desperation of people dealing with the support program.
VISP accepted his injury claims, but Wightman remains enraged. He says he often cannot reach anyone at VISP and has had 10 case managers work on his file.
Ross Wightman's VISP application was approved. He says he regularly waits months for VISP medical expense refunds. The program is an unfathomable 'dumpster fire,' he says. Courtesy Nicole Wightman
Wightman, who lives near Kelowna, B.C., was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome after his vaccination and applied to VISP in 2021. He received $270,000 in indemnities in 2022, becoming one of the first people to be approved.
Guillain-Barré syndrome is a rare neurological disorder that has been linked to COVID-19 vaccinations. The condition causes sudden numbness and muscle weakness when the immune system attacks peripheral nerves.
No longer able to work, Wightman awaits a second reassessment of his injuries.
His wife left her job to care for him and their two young children full-time.
After the one-time injury award, he waited 20 additional months to be approved for a VISP income replacement benefit in 2023. That benefit is capped at $90,000 a year — the maximum for all claimants — though he earned far more as a realtor and former pilot.
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Asked about VISP, he likens it to a 'dumpster fire.'
'I don't know how it could be done worse,' added Wightman.
'There have been times where I have thought about not continuing with some of my therapies just because I'm tired of incurring expenses and eating expenses for such a long time.'
Instead, he says the slow pace of financial support forced him, for a time, to turn to the 'bank of family.'
Wightman stated at one point that $12,000 in VISP funds were deposited into his bank account, but it took him more than 10 weeks to confirm what that refund was supposed to cover. VISP officials also kept him on tenterhooks for months, waiting for $25,000 in other reimbursements, he added.
'Such poor communication and record-keeping undermine trust in the program and create additional stress for those who depend on it,' added
Mounting paperwork, mounting debt
As a social worker living in Manitoba, Shannon Dupont thought she knew how to help vulnerable people through a crisis. But she, herself, is now lost and alone, battling VISP.
Prior to her vaccine injuries, which occurred after each of her three injections, she had two jobs and made an average of $104,000 a year.
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Shannon Dupont, of Manitoba, displays all the Vaccine Injury Support Program documents, emails and forms she's gathered. Melissa Ridgen / Global News
She says her employer mandated that she be vaccinated.
But Dupont suffered a stroke, Bell's palsy, lost half her field of vision in her left eye and dexterity in her hands. She developed an autoimmune disorder that gave her hives.
In September 2022, the provincial health authority recommended that Dupont receive no further COVID-19 vaccines. She can no longer work.
In her dealings with VISP since 2021, Dupont says she has had nine case managers whose letters, emails and forms cover her entire dining room table.
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VISP told claimants like Shannon Dupont by email that they would contact them 'quarterly.'
Two years after she applied, VISP approved her for a one-time $24,294 injury payout.
However, she believes VISP 'missed a significant amount of my injury.'
She has since applied for reassessment four times and sought refunds for medical expenses.
Many vaccine-injured people have also asked for their cases to be reconsidered.
VISP now owes her $180,000, Dupont alleges.
As she waited, Dupont says she cashed in her investments and lived on credit cards.
In March, she finally started receiving a VISP income replacement benefit of $3,700 monthly, but her battles continue due to confusion between VISP and her health insurer.
In December, VISP announced the government program would now be her first payor, reversing its initial position.
She says that the insurer now wants her to repay $86,000 — money she says VISP has not paid her.
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Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors 'It's like a miracle,' Lane said of the strange sounding operation that is new to Canada but was pioneered in Italy more than five decades ago. Lane's vision has returned gradually after the two-step procedure was completed during surgeries in February and May. Early on, she could see light, and then colours. Objects such as cars and furniture came into focus about a month ago. The first substantial thing the Victoria resident could identify was the wagging tail of her partner Phil's black lab, Piper. 'I could see Piper's tail moving. I couldn't see his whole body, but I could see his tail,' she recalled Thursday. 'I can now start to actually see his features. He's got some little white whiskers growing under his chin. And now I can see his eyes.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It's a dream come true for Lane, who had full sight until age 64, when she had a rare reaction to prescription drugs that led to scarring on her eyes and the loss of her vision. Restoring that sight, a decade later, has been a long, sometimes scary journey, but one for which she is grateful. 'Two operations later, my recovery is going well and I've got some sight returning. Life is different now,' she said. 'I can now go outside and see the beautiful blue sky and the leaves on the trees.' The doctor who brought osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis, nicknamed tooth-in-eye surgery, to Canada is Providence Health ophthalmologist Dr. Greg Moloney, who performed this procedure on seven patients in his home country of Australia before relocating to Vancouver in 2021. Essential reading for hockey fans who eat, sleep, Canucks, repeat. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Lane was the first of three Canadian patients he operated on at East Vancouver's Mount Saint Joseph Hospital earlier this year. All are now in different stages of recovery with sight returning in varied ways and at at different speeds, he said. 'We're seeing all three patients get their vision back,' he said. 'It's usual to have some ups and downs in the early course after the surgery is done. And that's happening, but nothing really that's major.' Gail Lane's tooth, with a lens inserted inside, after it was cut out of her cheek where it had been embedded for three months. Source: Ann Gibbon, Providence Health Care In February, Moloney and members of his large operating team extracted canine teeth, coincidentally also known as eye teeth, from the three patients. The teeth were shaped, holes were drilled in the middle and plastic lenses were glued inside. The teeth were sewn into the patients' cheeks to allow a layer of tissue to form around them before being removed three months later. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In a followup surgery in May, Moloney replaced Lane's damaged iris with the tooth, and used its newly formed tissue to sew it to her eyeball. The plastic lens acts like a telescope, allowing light to come in and hit the back of the eye, which still functions. Gail Lane's tooth, with a lens inserted inside, being stitched over her eye. Source: Ann Gibbon, Providence Health Care Of the three patients, Lane had the longest wait to get her vision back, largely due to bleeding inside the eye that took some time to clear, Moloney said. 'We were always very frank with her that she was our oldest patient. We weren't sure how healthy the back of her eye really was going to be,' he said. Two weeks ago, though, while wearing prescription glasses, Lane achieved 20/50 vision — she could see something 20 feet (six metres) away that a person with normal vision could see at 50 feet (15 metres). This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. That was 'way beyond' what his team had expected for Lane. 'For all of us to see the change, it's hard not to feel emotional about it,' Moloney said. Dr. Greg Moloney in his Vancouver office. Photo: Arlen Redekop Photo by Arlen Redekop / PNG The second patient was Brent Chapman, 34, from North Vancouver. He lost his vision as a teenager after having a severe reaction to a painkiller, which triggered the same rare condition that Lane developed, Stevens-Johnson syndrome. About two weeks after his second surgery in May, Chapman had impressive 20/30 vision while wearing glasses. The young man was euphoric. 'It's been such a journey. This has really dominated their lives,' the doctor said of Chapman's family. 'He hasn't gotten to have a normal childhood or even adulthood so far. And I think we are really close to giving that back to him.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Because Chapman had undergone about three dozen previous surgeries, all in an effort to restore his vision, the back of his eye was not as structurally strong compared to the other patients. As a result, his tooth tilted a bit during the healing process, which weakened his vision. So Moloney performed a followup procedure this week to straighten and reinforce the tooth, which he anticipates will return Chapman's sight to how it was in the spring. The third patient, a 29-year-old man from outside the province whose name hasn't been released, had the fastest recovery; he was able to read within a week of his May operation. Around the same time, Moloney witnessed him pour water into a glass, filling it precisely to the top. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'His auntie burst into tears,' Moloney said. 'The tiny, basic functions of life that we all take for granted, some of these patients haven't been able to do for, in his case, 17 years.' That man now can take public transportation and visit the pharmacy on his own. 'He really has just turned back into a normal, functional patient,' Moloney said. 'It's incredible.' Gail Lane in her Victoria home picking out clothes. Photo courtesy Gail Lane. Photo by Providence Health Care Even though Lane's vision is not strong enough yet for her to read or walk independently, she has had equally incredible moments. People are starting to come into focus, including her partner Phil, whom she met while blind so is seeing for the first time; her friends' faces, which had been frozen in time in her memories; and Moloney, the man responsible for making it all possible. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'I just put my hands on his cheeks and said, 'I can see your handsome face,'' Lane recalled. As her recovery continues, she has more goals she would like to achieve — seeing her clothes clearly enough to pick out what matches, playing mah-jong with her friends, or starting to golf again. 'My vision isn't perfect, but it's certainly much better than being blind. And I'm looking forward to further changes and discoveries,' she said. 'Being able to be more mobile, perhaps on my own, where I'm not having to use a cane. But these are all works in progress.' Since Postmedia first reported in February on this historic surgery, Moloney's office has been flooded with requests for help from across Canada and the U.S., where no doctors do this complicated procedure. However, only a tiny percentage of blind patients are good candidates for this type of surgery — typically they have had scarring on their eyes due to some type of trauma. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Three people, from Calgary, Ontario and Newfoundland, have been chosen to be Moloney's next patients. They are expected to undergo the surgery this fall. The financial backing for Moloney's first surgeries came from $430,000 in philanthropic donations to the St. Paul's Hospital Foundation. The surgeon argues Health Canada should provide funding for any future operations, since he is the only doctor in the country doing this work and some patients hail from outside B.C. 'In countries where this has been robust and long-running — and I'm speaking really about the U.K. and Singapore and Italy — there has been federal money given to support the program,' Moloney said. 'I do hope that the results that we've created here will help people understand that it is important.' In the meantime, Providence has pledged to put permanent funding for Moloney's clinic into its annual budget, a spokeswoman said. lculbert@ For more health news and content around diseases, conditions, wellness, healthy living, drugs, treatments and more, head to – a member of the Postmedia Network. Vancouver Whitecaps Local News Vancouver Canucks Crime Sports

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