We Are IH: Recreation worker shares her journey to inspire peers

Emma’s journey to IH is marked by heartache, life-threatening conditions, and triumph over trauma.  

She was homeless and living in her van in April 2020 when she suffered an inoperable stroke. Her recovery was long, and she was isolated from her family and children due to the pandemic.

In April 2022, she was suddenly hospitalized and put on life support for eight weeks. She was given a five per cent chance to live. To this day, the specialists aren’t sure what happened. “I looked up at the sky that day and knew something was going to happen to me,” Emma recalls.

Since coming out of her life-threatening experience, she has rebuilt her life step by step. “Life is beautiful and there are no bad days. I have the most amazing relationship with my five beautiful children,” she says.

Today, Emma works in Adult Day Services at two locations in Kelowna: Apple Valley and Hawthorn Park. She loves helping her clients be active and socialize in a way that’s therapeutic to their well-being.

“I feel so lucky that I get to work with the most amazing clients—individuals who have built our community and have contributed in so many ways,” shares Emma. “I feel blessed to be a part of such a great team.”

Emma describes herself as happy, kind and passionate. She genuinely looks forward to getting up everyday, as cliché as it may sound. “It’s so easy to look forward to coming to work each day knowing I’m working for an organization that promotes health,” she says.

In October 2024, Emma was invited to be a TEDx speaker in Grande Prairie, AB. She shared her inspiring journey of resilience and hope. TEDx called her talk “one of the most captivating stories we’ve ever encountered.”

“Doing the TEDx talk was just the beginning. Having survived and having made it through everything I’ve been through, I know my path is to educate and help others,” explains Emma, who is writing a book about her experiences. “I’ve been invited to do talks at various conferences. My focus is up-and-coming health-care providers and clinicians. I want to show them that there’s hope and the work they are doing does in fact help.”

Outside of work, Emma loves to bake—which she calls her “love language.” She enjoys spending time with her family and her kids. Her daughter Alexandra is in medical school, her son Max is a chef, her daughter Olivia is expecting her first baby, and she has two teen sons, Shea and Jackson, living at home.

Besides exploring the Okanagan’s beautiful lands and discovering trails and lakes, Emma has been known to dance in her kitchen with her sisters to country music and 90s pop.

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