STRATFORD—There have been many accomplished and exceptional people who have lent their talents to The Expositor over the years and few, if any, have climbed to the pinnacles of accomplishment like Diane Sims, who worked as the editor for several years.
The Expositor has recently learned that Ms. Sims has been named as National Honourary Champion for Bridge C-14, a network of peer-to-peer connections and community supports through all stages of medical assistance in dying (MAiD).
Ms. Sims has decided to take advantage of MAiD when she becomes unable to chew her own food or talk. Her voice, in many respects, has been her world. These days, her always softspoken tone is weaker than some days past, but her passion for life still resonates in her words.
Ms. Sims has lived a life that would prove insurmountably daunting to just about anyone. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis as a teenager, she was told she would soon be confined to a wheelchair and dead by the age of 35. Her response to the doctor who gave her that dire prognosis was a familiar phrase of defiance that begins with the letter f and ends with a “you.” That story was chronicled in a book of remarkable stories and an article, ‘How I plan to die’ that was published in the national magazine McLeans.
She went on to be an author, journalist, tireless volunteer and accessibility advocate of such note that she will be invested with the Order of Canada in a June 24 ceremony, joining a select group of 8,000 remarkable Canadians.
As a celebrated writer and accessibility advocate, Ms. Sims’ publications include the internationally distributed ‘An Ovarian Cancer Companion,’ as well as candid writings about her lifelong perseverance through medical hardships and her personal journey with medical assistance in dying.
“I am very passionate about what I do,” she told The Expositor in a recent phone interview from her home in Stratford where she lives with her husband Dennis.
Ms. Sims’ latest volunteer efforts have focussed on promoting Bridge C-14. “It is a peer-to-peer community that offers grief counselling to families of those who have chosen MAiD,” she notes, a service that “I imagine Dennis will be one of them.”
“I am very humbled to be named the Honourary Champion for Bridge C-14,” she said.
Ms. Sims will be in her original hometown of Sault Ste. Marie in early May to take part in Fresh Eyes 2025, an event that brings together local and foreign photographers to “capture the city and engage the community.” The event runs from May 7-11. Following the event, writers will use photographs as a commencement point for any style of writing, all of which will be published online—select works will then form a book.
The writer also plans to hold a book signing in Ottawa when she officially is invested in the Order of Canada for her advocacy work on behalf of ovarian cancer and MAiD—but it opened another door of advocacy. “You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to find an accessible book store in Ottawa, my publisher Bryan Davies called 12 stores to find one that could work,” she said.
