Francois Trudeau with his wife Susanna Shott and their boys Xavier, 10, and Silas, 7.

By Sheldon Spackman

Support Needed

Fundraising underway for Penhold man who had legs amputated

Aug 2, 2019 | 6:50 AM

Central Albertans are stepping up in support of a Penhold man who recently had both of his legs amputated below the knee.

Since July 28, over 119 people have raised over $16,500 through a GoFundMe campaign for Francois Trudeau and his family, with the hopes of raising $45,000.

Francois, 51, suddenly fell ill last month with a severe infection. It was on July 13 when the father of two young boys went to bed feeling healthy, only to wake hours later incredibly ill, vomiting, and with a very sore leg.

Wife Susanna Shott, who was in Halifax working at the time, says Francois texted her in the morning to advise her of his condition.

“He was wondering if he should go to the hospital,” she recalls. “Obviously he had both boys at home and so I phoned my sister who lives in Ponoka and asked her to come and pick up the boys and take him to the hospital if he felt like he had to go. She (ultimately) did.”

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Francois was briefly at the Innisfail Health Centre before being transferred to Red Deer Regional.

“He was in septic shock and the only thing he had noticed during that time going to the hospital was that his knee was getting a little swollen,” says Shott.

“There were no other signs of anything on his leg, so it was definitely strange that they basically told him he had a really severe infection in his leg. When he got to the Red Deer hospital, his septic shock was pretty bad, so they had to give him blood pressure medication to try to get his dangerously low blood pressure back up.”

Doctors considered installing a feeding tube, Shott says, as Francois’ body was starting to crash.

“The infection started turning purple and blue, there were blisters, you could see something was obviously wrong with his leg,” she explains. “During all of that, they did many blood tests, swabs and a biopsy trying to figure out what was going on. Meanwhile, his feet started turning purple, black and blue, but everything else started to get better, and he was kind of out of the danger zone.”

However, the damage had already been done to Francois’ feet as the blood pressure medication took the blood flow out of them to help him survive.

“They told us he would have to get both of his legs amputated,” says Shott. “To this day we have no idea the why, where or what caused the infection. Probably in a couple of weeks we’ll be making some decisions on further plastic surgery and skin grafting.”

Despite the amputations, Shott says Francois’ spirits are high, a positive sign ahead of his return home from hospital in a few weeks.

“My boys (Xavier, 10, Silas, 7) have been staying with their grandparents since this has happened,” says Shott. “We’re trying to figure out everything that we need for him going forward. Also, I typically work out of town, so I can’t be leaving and he can’t support himself at home yet, so I think I’ll probably have to stay home with him.”

Although she hopes to make their family’s life as normal as possible moving forward, Shott does anticipate needing a lift installed at their home for Francois’ wheelchair, in addition to getting him prosthetics.

“I’ve never been a part of a GoFundMe before,” she admits. “My family suggested it and we’re thinking every little bit helps of course, but it’s been just crazy the people you meet along the way and how much support that they’re willing to give. Also, my kids both play hockey and that community of people has just been so awesome.”

Money raised through GoFundMe will be spent on installing the lift and for any other renovations needed to make their home accessible and functional.

“The reason the story is important is for people to remember that from one day to the next, your life can change so fast,” she says.

“Francois, first and foremost, is a dad and definitely has had his emotional times thinking of the times where the kids asked him to play and he said no because he was busy. That’s something that’s hitting him hard, realizing that things aren’t going to be the same.”