The town of Woodslee rests just half an hour east of Windsor and is surrounded by swathes of farmland with roads straight as a ruler. Turning into George Sutherland’s U-shaped drive, one can’t help but be struck by the sheer wide openness of it all. The acres of land make his house look small, but inside it’s cozy. Family photographs hang on walls and sit on side tables.
One table in particular stands out. It’s the whole reason we’re here.
At almost 82 years old, George has a youthful exuberance about him. He sports a Hungarian-style mustache that blends into a bushy white beard and widens with every toothy smile. He’s a great storyteller. His grandson, Dave, sits with his grandfather in the kitchen.
Beside George is a table with three framed photos—a mini shrine of sorts. There’s a young girl in one, a young woman in another, but you can tell it’s the same person. This is Krystal Carder, Dave’s sister and George’s granddaughter.
"She was a caring person,” Dave says. “She was always there if you needed her.”
Krystal was born with a congenital heart defect known as tricuspid atresia, where a valve controlling blood flow doesn’t form. Because of this, blood couldn’t travel to her lungs for oxygen so, at just five days old, Krystal had her first surgery. From that day on, she spent the remaining 37 years of her life in and out of hospitals, including London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), until sadly, she passed in 2019.
“Everybody loved her,” George says. “But the schedules, the appointments, all the pills—she went through a lot.”
In his earlier days, George worked as a cash crop farmer as well as at the Windsor Assembly Plant building Chryslers. He retired from the factory at 54 years old to focus on his farm. He mentions how his hands are now stiff with arthritis.
But throughout all his working life, George saved. He saved, and he saved, and he saved. And as someone possessing a generous heart—he remains an active member of his local church— George turned into somewhat of a philanthropist. A cancer survivor himself, he makes regular donations to a cancer fund in Windsor along with several other charitable causes he finds meaningful.
Similarly, having seen how hard Krystal fought for 37 years, George knew he wanted to do something to honour her memory, he just didn’t quite know what. With an appreciation for the importance of innovation in health care, he took his time researching and educating himself on different subjects. Finally, he was ready, and in July 2023, George Sutherland mailed a cheque for $1 million to London Health Sciences Foundation to be put towards cardiac research at LHSC.
“We do the best we can with what we got.” You can tell by the soft flutter in George’s voice his thoughts are of Krystal. “So, if I can help save one more little girl or boy, if this helps them have an easier life without having to rely on so many pills all the time, it’ll be worth it.”