CALGARY -- When 13-year-old Eve-Lynn Rowan was asked by her parents if she wanted to go on the biggest water slide in a Tsawwassen park, she couldn’t wait.
“Oh I was just really excited,” said Rowan. “Because the way she (mom) was going down and the way she was screaming I knew it was going to be fun.”
But Rowan struggles to breathe. She has a severe case of bronchiectasis that restricts her physical activity. Because of her condition, she and her adoptive mother Nicole Maloney spend a lot of time indoors at their Okotoks home.
One of Eve-Lynn’s goals was to see the ocean and step in the water on a beach. Her family made that happen at the start of July with a trip to the British Columbia coast.
On their way home they drove by the Big Splash Water Slide Park in Tsawwassen. Shaun Maloney decided they should stop and experience the park that just opened for the season.
The only problem was Eve-Lynn's pre-existing condition put her in potential physical peril.
“With water slides there’s always some sort of pool at the end,” said Rowan. “If I go under then the water can get in my lungs and then I could get sick.”
Eve-Lynn knew there were hazards involved, and she also wouldn’t be able to climb the stairs on her own so her mom asked staff at the park for help.
“I just went to the ladies and poured out our story and said you know she looks normal but trust me she’s got this disability,” said Maloney. “She’s got this medical fragility and if you guys help me we can make this happen for her.”
That’s when Katie Matwichyna was asked to help. She’s the onsite emergency medical responder with PEAK Emergency Services.
“We did baseline vitals before we took her up,” said Matwichyna. “I talked to her mom Nicole about everything that was normal for her, everything that could happen about her condition and made sure I knew everything I needed to know.”
They started the journey up the six flights of stairs to the top of the water slide that had been closed to other park visitors to make sure Rowan wasn’t caught up in the crowd.
“Her heart rate was jumping through the roof as we were going up,” said Maloney. “She took oxygen all the way and one step at a time - very slowly - we got up the slide and they made it happen for her.”
Once they made it to the top of the stairs Matwichyna made sure Rowan’s vitals stabilized and Maloney went down the water slide first.
“When Eve-Lynn did come down people were approaching us (asking) what’s your story?” said Maloney. “I told them and people were in tears, my husband and I were in tears, it was an incredible experience.”
Matwichyna says she and other staff members were also in tears at the chance to make this experience happen for the teen.
“Like it was such a little thing for us to do but it made such a big impact on their lives,” said Matwichyna. “I would like to think that anybody would do it because in my mind it was just something we had to do."
Rowan says she laughed all the way to the bottom of the slide where her mom made sure she stayed above water. Rowan can’t thank Matwichyna enough for all her efforts to make this request a reality.
