Rhonda loves whales. But living in eastern Ontario with her mom, Gloria, there are not a lot of opportunities to go whale watching. Rhonda has muscular dystrophy and requires 24/7 access to her oxygen machine. For this reason, trips are really challenging. But Rhonda and Gloria were not deterred—they wanted to take a special trip to see the whales of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. So, their team at ProResp swung into action.
Rhonda’s ProResp Respiratory Therapist called up other ProResp offices around Ontario and was able to secure 15 special batteries that could be used to keep Rhonda’s portable oxygen concentrator running while she travelled east and braved the high seas.
One warm, late summer morning, Rhonda, Gloria and a suitcase of batteries set off on the bus, bound for Quebec. In Quebec City, they ate new cuisines and marveled at the European style streets. In Charlebois, they stayed in a castle — the Fairmont Manoir Richelieu, where they could gaze out at the waters they would soon be plying aboard a whale watching excursion.
And then the big day came. Their tour departed from Baie-Sainte-Catherine, near the Saguenay River. The trip took 5 hours in total, with Rhonda’s eyes glued to the water and Gloria intermittently changing out her batteries to keep the supply of oxygen steady.
“I saw belugas, humpbacks and pilot whales,” Rhonda told us. “And a whole lot of grey seals, all diving up and down! The seals were feeding on a flock of fish. There must have been sharks nearby, too, but none of the seals were harmed,” Rhonda recalled with excitement. “It is really nice to see the whales in the wild. Such gorgeous animals.”
The trip ended with a cruise up into the Saguenay Village, where more whales and seals were spotted. All in, Rhonda and Gloria were out for 14-and-a-half hours that day, a big day that would not have been possible without all those batteries.
Rhonda is already thinking about her next trip. She wants to get back to Disneyland to go on as many rides as she can before she can't anymore.
We are inspired by Rhonda and Gloria, and we will always be there to help make this dynamic mother-daughter duo’s dreams come true.