On April 26, 2025, Heather Boyce was rushed to the Regina General Hospital, in severe abdominal pain and unable to stand. What followed was a nine-week stay in hospital, including over five weeks in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) and more than three weeks in a surgical ward. She underwent three emergency surgeries and a tracheotomy, a surgical procedure which makes an opening in the windpipe to provide an alternative airway for intubation. Much of that time remains a blur, with only fragments of memory. She and her partner, Jeff Buck, now refer to it simply as “the big scary.”

“I don’t remember arriving at the hospital,” Heather says. She had suffered a perforated stomach ulcer that led to widespread infection and septic shock. According to surgeon, Dr. Taylor Bereti, it was like “a bomb going off in her body three times.” At 53 and previously healthy, the diagnosis was a shock. She required multiple surgeries, including bowel repair and an ostomy, a surgical opening in the abdomen that allowed waste to leave her body into an external bag.

Throughout those early weeks, Jeff was by her side daily and the SICU team supported him with compassion and clear communication.

When Heather finally regained full consciousness on May 10, she had 12 intravenous lines, a feeding tube and limited ability to move. With no clear cause for the weakness other than the amount of trauma her body experienced, the medical team focussed on helping her recover. “The nurses were incredible,” she says. “They helped me build strength, they encouraged me when I could not even lift my head, and they made me feel human.”

Following her stay in the SICU, Heather was transferred to the surgical unit to continue her recovery and adjust to life with an ostomy bag.

After nine weeks at the Regina General Hospital, she was moved to the Wascana Rehabilitation Centre for four weeks of intensive physiotherapy to recover her strength and mobility. Each day Heather pushed to walk, get dressed and reclaim the life she had before “the big scary.” She finally returned home in August and with Jeff by her side, she focused on getting stronger every day.

Last fall, to celebrate her recovery and their birthdays, Heather and Jeff hosted a gathering with their loved ones. Instead of gifts, they asked for donations. “We, along with our friends and family, wanted to give back in some small way to the people who carried us through those hard days,” says Jeff. “We are so grateful to the medical teams who saved Heather’s life, and helped her recover.” They raised $400 for Hospitals of Regina Foundation.

“Supporting the Foundation makes a world of difference,” says Heather. “You never think you’ll need this kind of care but when that time comes, for you or someone you love, you will be thankful it is there.”

By November, she was healthy enough to undergo ostomy reversal surgery, a milestone she calls the best Christmas present ever. In January 2026, eight months after her health crisis began, Heather returned to work full time.

“Heather’s story shows that a patient’s journey can span many areas in our hospitals,” says Dino Sophocleous, president and CEO of Hospitals of Regina Foundation. “Our community’s support ensured we had the expertise and technology she needed, right here at home. Her and Jeff’s support will help our medical teams deliver this critical care to others as well.”