MONTREAL -- Former figure skater Joannie Rochette announced Saturday that she will lend a hand in the province’s long-term care facilities (CHSLDs).
Rochette, who competed at the Turin 2006 and Vancouver 2010 Olympics - where she won the bronze medal in the individual event - received her medical degree from McGill University on Friday.
“I am not afraid for my health,” she said. “Well, a little anyway, because I am not Superwoman, and even if I am young and healthy, everyone is at risk. What scares me is to see the lack of staff in the CHSLDs, the workload and the supplies.”
Rochette, 34, spoke about the end of her studies with The Canadian Press in mid-February, on the 10th anniversary of the Vancouver Olympics.
“It was during the installation ceremony of the rings at the top of the Canadian Olympic House, in Montreal, that I met (swimmer) Marie-Pierre Gagné. She was studying to become an anaesthesiologist, and in a way, it was she who inspired me to study medicine, and to specialize in anaesthesiology,” she said.
The Quebecer touched the whole country following her mother Therese’s sudden death from a heart attack at 55 just two days before the start of her figure skating competition at the Olympic Games in Vancouver.
She returned to the whirlwind and, against all odds, won the bronze medal. It was a bittersweet moment, according to the athlete from La Visitation-de-l'Île-Dupas.
“Years go by, and it puts a little balm on the heart. I talked about it a lot, but I didn't really have the choice to live it out in the public square. At the same time, I received such a dose of love from people across the country that it really touched me, '' she said.
“I then used the platform there, at the Olympic Games, to raise awareness of heart disease, the importance of playing sports, of having a healthy lifestyle,” said Rochette.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2020.
