'I feel trapped': Regina meningitis patient faces barriers to rehabilitation support
CBC
When Brenda Herback woke up the morning she was set to fly to France from Regina for a vacation, she had no idea she would be in a coma in a matter of days.
She certainly didn't think that months later, she'd be fighting to get help with her recovery from meningitis.
Brenda, 65, and her husband Garry Herback had planned to go on a river cruise, but the morning they were set to embark, Brenda had a headache. The couple didn't think much of it.
As they traveled, the pain got progressively worse. Once the Herbacks reached Bordeaux, France, on Sept. 13, 2024, Brenda was sleeping constantly.
"You could tell she was struggling. And so we sat her down and she said she was seeing double," Garry said.
He took his wife to an emergency room in Bordeaux on Sept. 14. The doctors informed him that Brenda had meningitis and later identified the bacteria that caused it. Garry said everything sounded positive.
But the next morning, he got shocking news from the hospital.
"They told me she got into a coma and that they're waiting for a surgeon and they were very, very worried," he said.
"I was going, 'Oh my god. Oh my god. You know, is she gonna die? Is she gonna die?' Because I didn't really know what was going on. And that's when it all began."
Brenda was diagnosed with listeria meningitis. According to the Mayo Clinic, listeria infection is a food-borne bacterial illness most commonly caused by eating improperly processed deli meats and unpasteurized milk products. To this day, Garry says the family has no idea how Brenda got the infection.
According to the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), bacterial meningitis isn't as common as viral meningitis. It says the illness is "very serious" and needs to be treated right away to "prevent brain damage and death."
Garry and Brenda have been married for 47 years. Before contracting meningitis, she was active, smart and a leader in her local photography club. She loved walking and playing with her grandchildren, and was known to be very health-conscious.
"For some reason, [the infection] just jumped from her intestines into her bloodstream and from her bloodstream to her brain," Garry said.
The Herbacks flew back to Regina on Oct. 10. Brenda was still in a coma.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday Canada will hit back at the U.S. if President Donald Trump goes ahead with punishing tariffs on Feb. 1, promising this country will respond in kind with "robust, rapid" and "very strong" retaliatory measures.
As U.S. President Donald Trump renews his tariff threat, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says diplomacy, not retaliation, is the best way for Canada to stifle the risk of punishing new trade sanctions.
As U.S. President Donald Trump begins his second term in office, the president of the FFAW says she's playing the waiting game to see how threatened tariffs will take shape.
The Town of Hearst says power has been restored to all residents.
The effects of any kind of tariffs from the United States on Canada's lobster industry could depend on timing, but officials say just the threat is further proof of the need to keep diversifying markets.
A growing number of university students across the country are reporting disabilities — and receiving academic accommodations — with Maritime institutions leading the way.
A plan by a developer for a mixed-use building at the site of a popular drag bar in Toronto's gay village has been rejected by the Toronto and East York Community Council after many residents objected to the proposal.
More than 50,000 Hydro-Québec clients are without electricity in Montreal, primarily in Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Montréal-Nord and Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension.
Two anonymous letters first tipped the Manitoba government off to possible collusion by contractors vying for dozens of public housing projects more than a decade ago, according to search warrant documents — but charges against the people accused could now be stayed because the process has taken so long.
When Brenda Herback woke up the morning she was set to fly to France from Regina for a vacation, she had no idea she would be in a coma in a matter of days.
This First Person column is the experience of Karen Langtved, who lives in Lac Ste. Anne County, Alta. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
The head of the Vancouver Public Library is defending a policy that dictates what symbols its roughly 800 staff can wear while at work, amid concerns from employees that the rules unfairly single out symbols that show support for Palestinians.
McMaster professor Ingrid Waldron has had quite the journey over the past several years.
Administrators at Windsor's largest school boards want city council to stop a plan to eliminate and redeploy Transit Windsor buses that high school students pay for to get to school.
Curlers from across northern Ontario will be competing for the chance to represent the region at the national curling championships this week.
Ontario's Progressive Conservatives have a substantial cash advantage over their opponents after raising millions in 2024, as rumours of a snap election persist at Queen's Park.
The Region of Waterloo announced Monday that a new overnight warming centre will open in Cambridge.
The Souris Striders Ski Club has started a project to extend the lighted section of its trails to make it the longest lit ski trail in the Maritimes, the group says.