Celebrating 20,000 hearts

For the past 18 years, they have come together on Monday mornings at the Scarborough Town Centre to cut, sew, stuff and deliver red, heart-shaped pillows to patients of Sunnybrook's Schulich Heart Centre who have undergone cardiovascular surgery. On May 28, the ladies of the "Heart Pillow Project" made an extra special delivery to the Sunnybrook Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) to present one special patient with the 20,000th pillow made by hand, with love.

"Making heart pillows gives us a chance to visit with friends we might not otherwise see regularly and the heart pillows we make comfort people who have undergone heart surgery at Sunnybrook. It's a win-win situation," says Mary Shinn, Pillow Project originator. "We're having fun and making a difference in the lives of others!"

Dr. Stephen Fremes, Head of the Division of Cardiac and Vascular Surgery at Sunnybrook was joined by Dr. Bernard Goldman, founder of the Division, Dr. Gordon Rubenfeld, chief of Trauma, Emergency and Critical Care, and the CVICU nursing staff to witness the presentation of the 20,000th heart pillow to Mr. Sam Jaipaulsingh.

"Not only do the heart pillows provide comfort to surgical patients, but they also help in the recovery process," said Dr. Fremes. "By hugging the pillow, the chest cavity is kept intact and there is less likelihood of stitches tearing."

The Sunnybrook team thanked the ladies for their dedication to the patients of the Schulich Heart Centre and for the comfort they have provided with their healing hearts over the years.

What does it take to make 20,000 heart pillows by hand?

• 3.6 km of red cotton fabric
• 4 tons of fiberfill
• 400 spools of red thread
• 20,000 "Telco Community Volunteers" labels