Stratford’s Diane Sims named honorary champion for MAiD-support organization

Stratford’s Diane Sims has been named an honorary champion for Bridge C-14, an organization that provides peer-to-peer and community supports for Canadians and their loved ones before, during and after Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD).

As she continues her journey through the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) process, Stratford author, journalist and accessibility advocate Diane Sims is now helping spread word of an organization dedicated to supporting people across the country on similar journeys.

Sims, a member of the Order of Canada who is living with end-stage multiple sclerosis (MS) and has been approved for MAiD, was recently named an honorary champion for Bridge C-14, an organization that provides peer-to-peer support for Canadians, their caregivers and their loved ones before, during and after MAiD.

“We are honoured to welcome Diane Sims as an honorary champion for Bridge C-14,” said Lauren Clark, the organization’s executive director. “Diane brings a powerful combination of lived experience, public advocacy and deep compassion to this role. Her personal journey through serious illness and her courageous engagement with end-of-life conversations reflect the very essence of what Bridge C-14 stands for.”

As honorary champion, Sims will help amplify the voices of individuals and families impacted by MAiD while promoting the importance of peer-based, trauma-informed support. The role was created to recognize those who use their story, platform and passion to advance awareness of the emotional, relational and psychosocial dimensions of MAiD.

“Diane’s insight and visibility will be instrumental in fostering greater public understanding, compassion and connection,” Clark said. “At Bridge C-14, we know that change happens when people feel seen and heard. We believe that lived experience is not only valid, it is vital. Diane’s voice helps make that possible. Her presence in this role will help ensure that compassion and community remain central to how we support people through one of life’s most profound and complex transitions.”

For Sims, sharing her own experiences living with MS and choosing to end her life on her own terms is something she is very familiar with. Sims has written extensively about living with MS and her personal MAiD journey both for national publications and in her recent autobiography, Living Beyond the Shadow.

She wants to continue sharing her story while providing information about the supports offered by Bridge C-14 to help reduce the stigma around MAiD and guide others living with chronic, terminal and debilitating illnesses in considering MAiD as part of their palliative-care plan.

“To me, it’s an honour,” Sims said. “It means I get to advocate on (Bridge C-14’s) behalf in any format that I desire. … I want to support the mission, which is to provide a network of peer-to-peer connections and community supports through all stages of MAiD – for individuals choosing MAiD and for supporting them through the journey. I want to be a champion for them.

“ … We are committed to creating a culture where dignity, grief and choice are honoured and valued. This is where an honorary champion can really help by elevating the value of the choice, and the dignity and the honour of the choice, as well.”

Sims said her job as honorary champion will be to share her story and discuss how Bridge C-14 can provide support to people like her through media interviews and speaking engagements.

“It’s that person-to-person contact that I value,” Sims said. “I didn’t have anybody with MAiD to help me. I only had doctors going through the assessment process. It’s very clinical. I wish I had known about Bridge C-14.”

For more information about Bridge C-14 and what supports it provides, visit www.bridgec14.org.