Welcome Nathalie Vendrys to Aortic Hope Canada

Welcome Nathalie Vendrys to Aortic Hope Canada!

Nathalie will be hosting a French speaking Support Group in the very near future as well as help translate daily posts into French for those constituents in Canada where French is their native language.

We are super excited to have Nathalie as a Director of Support Services and Social Media Administrator.

“Bonjour, Hi” to each one of you! I am very excited to be able to volunteer my time and contribute to this wonderful organization led by patients, for patients on a journey in the aortic disease universe. I am honored to be involved in the Aortic Hope Canadian team. I feel we have so much to do in our country regarding aortic disease education, resources, support, community, etc. I have this profound need to contribute and give back as Aortic Hope is a beacon of light in my life for education, to create connections, to be part of a community and most of all to find hope and acceptance. Thank you, Carin and the other founding members for not only starting this, but also for never letting it down over the years despite the challenges. I am endlessly grateful for your continuous work and dedication!

So... A bit about me. I'm originally a Quebec girl, born in Haiti . I spent most of my life in the province of Quebec before traveling around the world with my husband and my 2 sons discovering, experiencing life in many cultures & homeschooling our 2 sons. We lived in Asia a couple of years before moving back to Canada on Prince Edward Island province. I used to work as an engineer/project manager, an osteopath and as the president of non-profit organization for women’s wealth.

Fast forward end of January 2023, while in a zoom meeting, I had a sudden terrible chest pain and from there, little did I knew how my life would change. Ambulance ride and then… I don’t remember much. An acute type A dissection and later rupture. After 9h of surgery and 3 days in a coma, I woke up not having a clue about what happened. I’ve never heard of aortic dissection before even if my grandmother died from it many years ago. I was in Quebec when all this happened, 10min away from the hospital. Can’t imagine if it had happened in “the boonies” where I live on Prince-Edward Island! As soon as I got out of the hospital, I started searching… “what the heck is aortic dissection”? It was scary at 1st, didn’t find much in French, which is my native language. Then I found Aortic Hope.

I was so much in the deep of the deepest hole that I believe Aortic Hope saved my life in a way by validating what I was experiencing & educating me. And the support I received and still receive is instrumental in keeping my “sanity”. I found my tribe. The recovery is still hard even after 2 and a half years as I am also dealing with frequent recurrent pericarditis episodes, which is another “no man’s land”; similar to aortic diseases… unknown by many, including doctors. But I have my Aortic Hope tribe, a community who truly “gets it” without having to exert myself to explain, a community that welcomes everyone as they are and where they are in their journey… and this is where I want to put my energy, my passion and all my love! I am ready to “roll”!

Please welcome Nathalie!