Donor Stories – Jordan and Lisa Gnat
Emily Gnat was just six weeks old when she began having trouble breathing. Her parents rushed her to SickKids where doctors discovered a large mass—a sub-glotic haemangioma—blocking her airway. Entrusted into the capable hands of otolaryngologist Dr. Blake Papsin, Emily underwent five surgeries in quick succession. After 10 months of treatment, she was breathing easily once again. Her parents, however, were forever changed by the experience.
“Research in this area has the ability to make an impact on a global scale.”
“It was a very difficult time for our family, but the doctors and the staff here gave so much to us during those desperate moments,” says Lisa Gnat, Emily’s mother. “We immediately thought, what can we do to give back?”
In the 14 years since Emily’s recovery, the Gnats have made contributions of more than $500,000 in support of SickKids, their first two gifts establishing endowments. This year, they have made a generous 10-year commitment to the Department of Otolaryngology to support research into vascular tumours of the airways.
“Research in this area has the ability to make an impact on a global scale,” says Jordan Gnat, Emily’s father.
“From their first gift to this most recent commitment, the Gnats have demonstrated a deep understanding of the hospital’s needs and a willingness to share our long-term vision,” says Dr. Papsin, now chief of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at SickKids. “They have evolved as philanthropists—at first donating to support tangibles like equipment, to now supporting research that will lead to transformative change in child health.”
