Canadians shouldn’t have to choose between risking their lives and getting treatment that costs them their life savings

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In 2021, Christine Tizzard, now 47, started experiencing a locking jaw, tinnitus-like symptoms, hearing loss and headaches. Tizzard’s oncologist told her that these symptoms were latent effects from radiation that she’d received years earlier for a benign tumour. But the symptoms kept getting worse.

In early April, a Toronto neurosurgeon said she wasn’t sure if it was cancer and that she might operate but would first need a biopsy, which would take several weeks.

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Later that month, Tizzard’s pain and double vision got so bad that she went to an emergency room. This led to a quicker biopsy that confirmed she had chondrosarcoma, a malignant brain cancer. Tizzard was given an emergency surgery date in early May. Days later, the surgeon informed her that he couldn’t operate without the support of another surgeon, who was unavailable. The surgery was cancelled.

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