Kayla Toplis and Krissy Young both have a strong connection to Southlake and are running for different reasons, but both are running for the same cause: the Maternal Child Program at Southlake.
Kayla is a registered paediatric nurse at Southlake Regional Health Centre. She started running with her team, “Baby Steps”, consisting of 20+ other maternal child program workers in 2018. She was motivated by her paediatric patients and inspired by her Dad, who suffered a massive heart attack and was treated at Southlake. Kayla credits Southlake with saving her Dad’s life. As a Georgina resident, Kayla felt relieved that Southlake could care for her Dad right here in their community. Southlake’s Regional Cardiac Care Program is one of the largest in Ontario, and, for Kayla’s Dad, it meant he could get the leading edge care that saved his life at ‘his hospital’.
Krissy, who lives in Newmarket, started running with her team of about 15 family and friends, “Baby, I was Born to Run” in 2021, as a way of giving back to the hospital that cared for her children while they were in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Her oldest, Charlotte, 5, was in the NICU for three days due to a fluid build-up in her lungs. Her twins, Connor and Kyle, 4, spent 26 days in the NICU and required continuous breathing support and comprehensive care. Thanks to Southlake’s capacity to care for babies born as early as 30 weeks in the NICU, Krissy didn’t have to commute downtown to be with her children. Instead, they could be cared for close to home.
One thing is for sure – both Kayla and Krissy are incredibly grateful that Southlake was there when they needed it most, which is why they are committed to giving back by fundraising through Nature’s Emporium’s Run for Southlake. Each has participated on their own in the past, but after meeting as members of the event’s organizing committee, they decided to join forces.
Immediately they saw the potential in working together and liked the idea of healthcare workers, and former patients united efforts towards a common goal.
Krissy’s plan is to run a total of 67.6 km over 26 consecutive hours – that’s 2.6 km each hour, representing the 26 days her twins spent in Southlake’s NICU. She will start the day before the run and meet up with her husband and four children at Davis Drive on April 24 to do the race’s last leg under Southlake’s iconic bridge. She is confident that she has what it takes to reach her goal.
“I’ve been training outside and working on my pace, so I don’t go too fast and wear myself out early,” says Krissy. “It’ll probably take me about 20 minutes to reach 2.6km, and then I’ll come back in and recuperate for about 40 minutes. And, then go back out and do it again.”
Krissy started running since just before her twins’ first birthday in 2018. She ran the Toronto marathon in with her sister and donated the $13,000 she raised to Southlake. She enjoys running and finds comfort in it, especially over the past few years when she stopped going to the gym because of the COVID-19 pandemic. So instead, she opted just to run outside. “I thought not only is it a good use of my time, but now I also get to help the hospital again,” says Krissy.
The Nature’s Emporium Run for Southlake is back in person this year after two years of being virtual. Kayla and Krissy are both looking forward to participating in person. The last two years have been incredibly hard and uncertain for so many in our communities and especially our healthcare workers. This spring event will help lighten some of that burden.
Of course, Kayla knows this all too well. As a paediatric registered nurse, “One day, I could be caring for a baby and the next day, it’s a teenager. We see quite a bit of variety and take care of kids of all ages,” says Kayla. “During the pandemic, we’ve seen a lot more adolescents dealing with mental health issues. That’s been hard. I love taking care of them, but it’s hard to see these kids suffer. So that’s why I want to run for them because I know it’s been a tough year for all of us.”
Kayla had committed to running 380 km, representing the number of patients she has treated this past year. Instead, for four weeks leading up to April 24, she will do a mixture of cycling, running and indoor rowing. Then she will run the last 5K in person at the event with her husband and teammates by her side.
“While I’m running as a member of the community, and Kayla is running on as a member of the hospital in a way we’re both giving back to each other,” says Krissy. “The pandemic continues to impact frontline workers, and I think that it’s really nice that we’re both able to give back in this way.”
It wasn’t until she began volunteering with Southlake that Krissy learned that the government does not pay for most hospital equipment. “I assumed that all of those things were just covered, and they simply aren’t,” continues Krissy.
“I started to fundraise because of my Dad, and he says Southlake truly saved his life,” adds Kayla. He’s lucky to be with us now. So that’s kind of what started the ball rolling. And then it has just evolved from there. Now I’m working with Krissy, which is amazing. So it’s kind of like coming full circle. I’m happy.”
The two look forward to crossing the finish line along Davis Drive with their families.
Join Kayla and Krissy and register as an individual/team now or donate to Southlake.
