Dr. Sheila Basrur has died of cancer. She was 51 and was the calm, collected, rational face for the City of Toronto during the SARS crisis.
If you needed an answer, she was there to explain in layman’s terms.
If you needed reassurance, Basrur was there to calm anxiety, especially among health care workers.
I hope the city and the province do something to publicly honour her and health care workers who fought on the front lines during SARS.
I was deeply moved a couple of years ago when I went to Hong Kong. In this beautiful park right downtown, they have a memorial to health care workers who died fighting SARS. It’s in a lovely calm garden, a great spot for quiet contemplation.
I would like to see the same kind of memorial built here. Knowing Canada, it will take years and a Royal Commission to get approval.
The frontline workers during the SARS crisis, including Dr. Sheila Basrur, deserve better.
Mary Ellen Beninger
