www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, June 20, 2014 | 6 Editorial F I R E F I G H T E R S H E L "Connected to your Community" P O U T 447 Speers Road, Oakville ON, L6K 3S4 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Editorial Department: (905) 632-0588 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 52 | Number 74 In his daughter's name Fittingly, just after Father's Day, we salute Oakville MP Terence Young, who has gone to great lengths out of love for his late daughter Vanessa to make a difference in her honour. His perseverance has been unrelenting as he drove to understand his daughter's fate, the reasons behind it and to bring about positive change following the sudden cardiac death of Vanessa at just age 15. Vanessa's Law (Bill C-17) -- proposed patient safety legislation introduced by Young -- passed Third Reading in the House of Commons June 12 and moves to the Senate for consideration. It would provide new tools to make pharmaceutical drugs, biologics and medical devices safer for us all. "Once implemented, Vanessa's Law will save innumerable lives a year in Canada, and prevent tens of thousands of injuries. It is dif cult to overstate the importance of this Bill to patient safety. This is a generational change. Vanessa would be very pleased to know her loss of life has led to the Government of Canada acting to prevent others from suffering her fate," said Young. It has been a long, painful journey, but one Young has travelled unwaveringly. He hopes it will make a difference -- so other fathers, and families, won't nd themselves in a hospital as he was, stunned, shocked, disbelieving with so many questions. Most importantly, so others, such as Vanessa, will live out their lives, the greatest gift any of us have. Young, his wife, Gloria, and their children, Madeline and Hart, suffered an immeasurable loss in March 2000 when Vanessa died. Immediately, Young successfully pushed for an inquest. Vanessa was taking the prescription drug Prepulsid (the trade name for cisapride). The inquest found Vanessa's cause of death to be acute hypoxic/ischemic encephalopathy (lack of oxygen to the brain) due to arrhythmia followed by cardiac arrest resulting from effects of bulimia nervosa in conjunction with cisapride (Prepulsid) toxicity and, possibly, an unknown co-factor such as congenital cardiac defect. The complexity of the nding resulted in no one speci cally held accountable, but Young would not, could not, rest. In July 2001, he initiated a $100-million class-action lawsuit. In 2002, he founded Drug Safety Canada (DSC). His book, Death by Prescription, was released in April 2009. Janssen Pharmaceutica voluntarily stopped marketing Prepulsid in the U.S. in July 2000. Health Canada pulled it from Canadian shelves one month later. We applaud Young for his passion and conviction to get Vanessa's Law passed. His perseverance is to be admired even though it was born out of tragedy. Vanessa's Law re ects the hard work of a devoted father who never wavered in his duty or love for his daughter. Terence, Vanessa and Gloria Young The Oakville Beaver is a division of Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Vice President and Group Publisher of Metroland West Regional General Manager Halton Region Editor in Chief Advertising Director NEIL OLIVER DAVID HARVEY JILL DAVIS DANIEL BAIRD Managing Editor ANGELA BLACKBURN RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director Business Manager Director of Production SANDY PARE MARK DILLS Local re ghters are `sudsing' it up Saturday (June 21) in support of Distress Centre Oakville. Members from the Oakville Professional Fire ghters Association (OPFFA) will host a car wash from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Gears Bikes, 547 Trafalgar Rd. Last week, members of the Oakville Fire Department's newest recruits class, including Mike Mechan, above, brought hoses to Town Hall to raise money for the United Way of Oakville. | photo by Eric Riehl Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager Director of Distribution CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager Deed of Good Samaritans in plain view From where I live, I have a really good view of the bus terminal at Oakville Place. On this particular morning, there were construction workers doing a job at the bus turnaround and the buses could not access their regular drop-off point. As I sat with my morning coffee, I watched a bus let off a few people, particularly a young lady dressed in black, obviously on her way to work. She crossed the street and I looked away. When I turned my gaze back to the mall, I noticed that a young man between 25 to 30 years old and wearing dark shorts and a grey T-shirt, had approached her near the newspaper stands under the trees. Their body language clearly told me right away that he was upset and when she took a couple of steps backwards on to the grass, I knew that she was uncomfortable and wanted to be away from him. Letter to the Editor Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member My rst thought was to contact the authorities and mall security, however before I could think to get my phone, a male passerby and one of the construction crew members had stepped in and verbally forced the young man away from the lady. I have to write this to state how proud I am of the two men who stepped in and assisted this young woman. Their actions truly show the love and care that the community of Oakville has for one another, even if they are complete strangers. I send my thanks to the two men who intervened and deterred the argument/harassment that I was witnessing. Your actions are truly admired, and today, I believe that you both were that young lady's heroes. Kelly Pilon, Oakville Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Proud Official Media Sponsor For: The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to: The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 5040 Mainway, Burlington ON L7L 7G5 or via e-mail to; ablackburn@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. 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