The desire to help his neighbor, however, is quickly back up to the surface, and Sven Pouliot (left) has decided to undertake as a service in the Manor house of the Atrium, in a wing where there were several patients with the disease coronavirus.
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June 18, 2020
Updated on June 19, 2020 at 4h20
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Tears of happiness, Sven Pouliot
Ian Bussières
The Sun
Coach of the alpine ski team of the Red and Gold of the University Laval in 2015, Sven Pouliot was entitled to a rare spring quiet with the cancellation of the finals due to the pandemic of COVID-19.
After enjoying these family moments, his desire to help his neighbor, however, is quickly back up to the surface and he decided to engage as a service in the Manor house of the Atrium, in a wing where there were several patients with the disease coronavirus.
It is an understatement to say that Pouliot has the heart on the hand. In a telephone interview with The Sun Thursday, we felt all the emotion that lived in it when he stated that finally, there was only one case of COVID-19 on the floor where he was working in a residence for retirees in Charlesbourg. At the height of the crisis, there had been fifteen.
“Today, we learned that there was officially more of a case of COVID-19 among us. It’s been a long that we feel that it is getting better, that people have more energy. It has very much changed the atmosphere,” said, tears in his eyes, one that was quickly taken care for patients with cognitive disorders of which he was engaged. “These are people who have had good lives, great careers, who have children who love them”, tells the coach that it was the first experience in the health care network. “As a coach, I’m still a bit in the aid relationship in the sense that I try to help young people in their personal development, physical and athletic”, he says.
“Today, our latest resident who had been tested positive, has received his second negative test. We could finally déconfiner, enter the apartment and wash everything,” he says, relieved. “I spoke with the relatives of those who hosted and it was really hard for them, because, for three months, these people were supposed to stay in their room. This is not easy, because these are people who have cognitive problems. There was a lady who was asking every morning why she had to eat in his room.”
Help his neighbor
The idea of making it available has sprouted in the head of Sven Pouliot during the confinement. “When the provincial championships have been cancelled, I became a dad at home with my twins while my wife was teleworking. We spent beautiful moments with family, but when the daycare has started again, I saw that there were needs in residences for the elderly, and I thought about it more and more,” he says.
It has, therefore, decided to join the site “I can help” launched by the government of Quebec and was called to work at the Manor house of the Atrium from the 23rd of may. “I’ve done a lot of different work in my life and I also believe a lot of aid to the community. I had talked to my wife before leaving, because these are values that we share. For you to say, we met, selling daffodils for the cancer Society. When we can to help our neighbors, we do.”
Different backgrounds
“The first night, when I arrived, I had no idea what it could look like, but my fears were dispelled quickly, because it was full of people of different backgrounds. We had the necessary equipment to protect themselves, but we spent a lot of time to wash hands. The number of tasks was also increased tenfold, as all the residents had to be in their rooms.”
Through this adventure, Sven Pouliot has met people from several backgrounds and a few well-known faces came also to give a helping hand. “I have known many incredible people, for example, a psychologist who had also offered his services. Another day, I was coming out of the elevator and I see a girl with a visor and a cover. It was Laurie Top, who has just finished his third year of medicine and is a student-athlete in athletics. I also met Leila Adam, which is part of the medical team of the Red and Gold.”
“It encouraged me to see all these people who wanted to help. I didn’t know the environment of the elderly, but to live it made me even more appreciate the life, the family moments. It is certain that the work of the team talked to me a lot and I think it has brought me even more than that, for me, I was able to bring”, he concludes.
