“He told me, ‘After about five minutes, I knew you weren’t there. Then, you reached up and grabbed my arm.’” That was the sign Cives needed not to give up. Incredibly, the group was able to bring McDonald back to life and stabilize him enough to be transported to hospital. “I will be forever grateful for those who jumped in that day when Ardell and I desperately needed them.” BEATING THE ODDS The former NHL right winger was transported to Foothills Medical Centre (FMC), Calgary’s epicentre of cardiology. McDonald was in critical condition when he arrived and was quickly put under the care of the cardiac care unit, which took him to one of the hospital’s six cardiac catheterization (cath) labs. Cardiac catheterization is a set of minimally invasive diagnostic and treatment procedures that use a long, narrow tube called a catheter. The catheter is inserted into a blood vessel in the groin or the arm and then guided up to the coronary arteries. From there, cardiac teams can view and assess the health of the blood vessels, valves, and muscle of the heart. In the cath lab, McDonald underwent a coronary angiogram that ultimately diagnosed him with coronary artery disease. The former Calgary Flames captain would need quadruple bypass surgery to repair his heart — a surgery he would receive four days later under the care of cardiac surgeon and aortic specialist, Dr. Holly Smith and her team. When asked about McDonald’s life-saving surgery, Smith says, “It’s a great privilege to take care of every patient that comes under our care in the cardiac surgery unit. Knowing that Lanny McDonald is so beloved in the community certainly added to that, but it truly is a privilege to care for each and every person that we meet.” Eight days after his quadruple bypass surgery, on February 16 — McDonald’s 71st birthday — he required a second surgery to receive an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), a battery-powered, smartwatch-sized device that is placed under the skin just below the collarbone. Used to continuously track his heart rhythm and detect electrical problems, McDonald’s ICD would also function as a
pacemaker to reestablish his heart’s normal rhythm if needed. Cardiac electrocardiologist Dr. Roopinder Sandhu and her team performed the implantation. “Before she operated on me, Dr. Sandhu said, ‘I see from your chart that it’s your birthday,’” remembers McDonald. “She then turned to her team and said, ‘Well, we can’t operate until we sing Happy Birthday.’ And so, they did. It was one of the coolest things that happened during my time in hospital.” McDonald cannot express his gratitude enough for his medical teams. “I was very fortunate to have had great doctors and people who gave me advice and attention along the way. I would not have gotten better without their help. And they do it each and every day. I owe so much to everyone for finding a way to get me back on my feet, so Ardell and I could celebrate our 50th anniversary a year and a half later.” McDonald considers himself very lucky. Cardiovascular disease claims the lives of more than 50,000 Canadians every year. According to Statistics Canada, heart disease is second only to cancer as the leading cause of death in Canada and accounts for approximately 17.7 per cent of deaths in the country every year. For women, this risk is even
higher. Heart disease claims the life of a woman in Canada every 16 minutes. It is the number one preventable killer of Canadian women — one in five will die of cardiovascular disease. To help change
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these odds, there are determined cardiac specialists and resolute citizens in Calgary who recognize the need for greater resources in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart disease.
“It’s a great privilege to take care of every patient that comes under our care on the cardiac surgery unit.” —Dr. Holly Smith
DR. HOLLY SMITH Cardiac surgeon and aortic specialist
Breakthroughs [ Fall 2025 ]
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