Diane Sims has received the Order of Canada, has had a distinguished career as a journalist and written about the plan she has for her medically-assisted death some time in the future.
You can now add champion advocate for Bridge C-14 to her list of accomplishments.
Sims, who is originally from Sault Ste. Marie, was recently bestowed the distinction of honorary champion for Bridge C-14, a network of peer-to-peer connections and community support through all stages of medical assistance in dying (MAiD).
The announcement came last week from Bridge’s national body, giving Sims another thing to be proud of with what time she has remaining.
“Because I’ve chosen MAiD and I mentioned it in my sixth book, I had reached out to Bridge to connect with them and offer my services in any way back in the fall,” she said. “After I received the Order of Canada in December, I contacted Bridge C-14 again and they were quite receptive to me helping them. I thought it would be a role on their board, but I was told that since I have a voice nationally as a journalist and author, I have a far-reaching approach.”
Sims said the organization came back to her and asked if she would serve as their honorary champion, a role she sees as increasing awareness and advocacy by serving as a guest speaker. It’s something she’s thrilled to take on, even if her speaking is monotone due to her condition, the result of dealing with multiple sclerosis (MS) since she was 17 has taken its toll while also having to fight cancer as well.
“I’m hoping I can express my passion for what Bridge C-14 does, helping to increase awareness of their organization by talking with any media I can,” she said. “I want to be part of any speaking events I can because I’m so passionate for their peer-to-peer help for those grieving and going through MAiD, and it’s something my husband, Dennis, will need when I pass … and maybe before then.”
A statement from Lauren Clark, the executive director for Bridge C-14, said they were honoured to welcome Sims as an honorary champion because it brings a powerful combination of lived experience, public advocacy and deep compassion to the role.
“Her personal journey through serious illness and her courageous engagement with end-of-life conversations reflect the very essence of what Bridge C-14 stands for,” Clark said. “As honorary champion, Diane will help amplify the voices of individuals and families impacted by MAiD, while promoting the importance of peer-based, trauma-informed support. This role was created to recognize those who use their story, platform and passion to advance awareness of the emotional, relational and psychosocial dimensions of MAiD. Diane’s insight and visibility will be instrumental in fostering greater public understanding, compassion and connection.”
Clark went on to add that change happens when people feel seen and heard and that lived experience is not only valid but vital.
“Diane’s voice helps make that possible,” she said. “Her presence in this role will help ensure that compassion and community remain central to how we support people through one of life’s most profound and complex transitions.”
Sims has been living with multiple sclerosis for 50 years after first being diagnosed at 17 after having her first attack three years earlier. When she was 38, a diagnosis of ovarian cancer led to six surgeries and a prediction of her life lasting only one more year. Showing her sense of humour, Sims relates this led to her swearing for the first time in her life.
“When I got the diagnosis of MS, it was June 20 and I was at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto; I’d been flown there in an air ambulance, and I was a good Baptist girl who never swore,” she joked. “The doctor told me I’d be in a wheelchair soon, bedridden in my 20s and dead by 35. I just turned to him and said, ‘fuck you’.”
Sims doesn’t have a date in mind yet despite things starting to get a little harder for her; she can still speak but typing has become more challenging for her – something the writer in her calls ‘pretty shitty’.
She decided that MAiD was how she wanted to go a few years ago after another medical issue arose where her colon was blocked with fibre. Due to the surgeries Sims has had, her bowel would spasm on one side but not the other and then adhere to her abdominal wall in multiple places , resulting in hundreds of adhesions. It became clear her bowel wasn’t working properly and, at the time, was given three months to live. After spending a month in hospital, she changed her will and went with Dennis to pick out a spot at Avondale Cemetery and on the way home, her gallows humour struck again.
“I turned to Dennis and said we’d bought our last house and we were officially part of the hole in the wall gang,” she said, smiling at the memory. “We laughed over that. But it was after that I decided to pursue MAiD.”
Multiple sclerosis patients are evaluated on a scale of 0-9 in half-point increments, with Sims being at an 8 for a while before being moved to 8.5. Being in palliative end-stage MS hasn’t dampened her desire to spread Bridge C-14’s message because she knows what it’s been like for her and Dennis and, hopefully, using her voice can make that easier on others.
“I went through the first appointment for assessment for MAiD with my family doctor and then a specialist,” she said. “Dr. Eric Thomas is the MAiD assessor for southwestern Ontario and he came to the house, and I was nervous. I joked with him and broke the ice and we had a wonderful conversation and that’s when he told me it would only take three minutes for me to die once the process starts. As soon as I’ve said goodbye, he’ll give me a tranquilizer to put me to sleep and give me the final drugs.”
Sims has part of her final day mapped out, with friends and a family member there to enjoy some champagne with her while some music plays her favourite songs in the background. The last thing she hopes to hear will be Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’. Asked if she sees this as an acceptable way to go, Sims smiles and nods.
“I have suffered for 50 years, and the divine and I believe my death is acceptable,” she said. “Dennis accepts it but this has been very hard for him to come to terms with. But as long as I can communicate, speak and write and I don’t need a feeding tube, I want to continue to live.”