Mining for Miracles Eyes 2022 Completion of $3.385 Million Fundraising Goal to Establish Cellular and Regenerative Medicine Centre (CRMC) at BC Children’s Hospital

The CRMC will tap into the power of personalized medicine to help stop cardiac arrest in kids before it strikes.

Mining for Miracles

Vancouver, B.C.—Mining for Miracles, the BC mining industry’s long-standing fundraising campaign for BC Children’s Hospital Foundation, launched its 2022 campaign today with Premier John Horgan, in support of BC Children’s Hospital’s Cellular and Regenerative Medicine Centre (CRMC), the first of its kind in Western Canada.

“Mining for Miracles continues to demonstrate how the women and men working in the BC mining industry contribute to the strength and resilience of families and communities across our province,” said Premier Horgan. “This is just one of the many ways the resource industry makes our province stronger.”

In 2022, Mining for Miracles launches the final leg of their campaign to fulfill their commitment, made in 2020, to establish the CRMC, a $3.385 million initiative. The CRMC will give clinicians at BC Children’s the tools to better understand the genetic cause of heart arrhythmias so they can provide the best possible care to children in BC. It will result in improved diagnoses, identification of optimal treatments, and potentially, cures—improving and saving the lives of children across the province and beyond. In the future, the CRMC may also be used to provide answers for the thousands of children living with other life-altering conditions, like diabetes, cancer, bowel disease, and epilepsy.

“Through this initiative, we are one giant step closer to realizing better health care for the children of British Columbia”, said Dr. Shubhayan Sanatani, Head, Division of Cardiology, BC Children’s Hospital. “This centre will use personalized medicine in ways that we have not before dreamed possible”.

“We receive incredible support for the annual Mining for Miracles campaign from the thousands of women and men who work in the mining industry. In 35 years, we have raised over $35 million to support child health with initiatives such as Pie Throw,” said Karla Mills, Co-Chair of Mining for Miracles and Vice President, Project Development at Teck.

“Together, we are helping ensure kids across our province have access to world class health care,” added Jelena Puzic, Co-Chair of Mining for Miracles and Director, Geoscience Services at Teck.

As a new addition to the 2022 campaign, reflecting diversity and inclusion in the mining community, the Mining for Miracles team also introduced a new mascot – Betty the Miner. Buddy and Betty will continue to be ambassadors for Mining for Miracles at various events across the province over the course of the campaign.

About Mining for Miracles

For more than 30 years, the BC mining community has worked together through Mining for Miracles to help improve the quality of health care for children in our province. Through its support of the construction of facilities, ground-breaking research and the acquisition of specialized medical equipment at the hospital, Mining for Miracles is helping to keep BC Children’s Hospital at the forefront of excellence in pediatric care. The industry’s donations have made an enormous positive impact on the health and well-being of children, families and communities across B.C. Donations can be made online, through employee and corporate fundraising initiatives, or by supporting the Mining for Miracles Virtual Pie Throw, which will take place over three action-packed days starting Tuesday, June 7, 2022. Fundraising closes on Thursday, May 19. Follow @Mining4Miracles on social media or visit www.miningformiracles.ca for more information to Support. Watch. Donate.

About BC Children’s Hospital Foundation

BC Children’s Hospital is the only hospital in the province devoted exclusively to the care of children, and is one of the few pediatric medical centres in Canada with a world-class acute care centre, research institute, mental health facility and rehabilitation centre all on a single campus. Leading experts at BC Children’s provide a specialized level of expertise, innovative therapies and kid-focused care that can’t be found anywhere else in the province, including for the sickest and most seriously injured. At BC Children’s Hospital Foundation, we have a vision that every child is healthy and able to fulfill their hopes and dreams. The generosity of donors fuels our ability to help conquer childhood illnesses and address the biggest health challenges that face kids today. Please follow us at @bcchf or visit bcchf.ca for more information.

Premier John Horgan (middle) meets Airie Vivancos Udatsu (bottom right), BC Children’s Hospital patient, along with her father Amos, mother Keiko and brother Kian, Karla Mills (bottom left), Mining for Miracles Co-Chair and Vice President, Project Development, Teck Resources, Jelena Puzic (top right), Mining for Miracles Co-Chair and Director, Geoscience Services, Teck Resources, and Lindsay Turner (top left), Associate Director, Corporate Partnerships, BC Children’s Hospital Foundation today to kick off the 2022 Mining for Miracles campaign.

Background Information

Why is establishing the CRMC so important?

• Every year, about 50,000 Canadians, including children, will die suddenly because of a cardiac arrest.
• Ten per cent of children with heart rhythm disorders are at high risk for sudden cardiac arrest – a condition where the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating, and, if not treated within minutes is fatal.
• There are 1,000 families followed by the BC inherited heart rhythm disorder program, a group of specialists in cardiology, as well as medical genetics that identify, screen and manage individuals in the province affected by inherited heart rhythm conditions that put them at risk of sudden cardiac arrest.
• Health care is increasingly using genetics to identify why diseases occur. The CRMC will give clinicians at BC Children’s the tools to better understand the genetic cause of heart arrhythmias so they can provide the best possible care to children in BC.
• Currently, to find the appropriate treatment options to prevent cardiac arrest, doctors must determine through trial and error which heart arrhythmia medication combination is the right one for each individual child.
• With only ten drops of blood, researchers at the CRMC will be able to create a “disease in a dish” where they can generate and study a specific child’s beating heart cells.
• By studying cells in a lab, researchers can determine if children are at high risk of sudden cardiac arrest and help determine the best treatment options.

How BC Children’s CRMC will transform pediatric cardiac care

• The CRMC will be the first of its kind in Western Canada
• The CRMC has the potential to prevent years of uncertainty and reduce potential risks and side effects of ineffective drug options. BC’s kids need the CRMC so that they can receive a more accurate diagnosis and tailored treatment options.
• The future vision for the CRMC is to expand beyond childhood heart arrhythmias and apply this state-of-the-art technology to ultimately improve care for children living with other conditions, such as diabetes, cancer, bowel disease, and epilepsy.
• BC Children’s has the clinical and scientific expertise to be leaders in pediatric cellular and regenerative medicine, but they require infrastructure and equipment to do this.