Johnston Group created the Advisor Charitable Match Program to team up with our advisors across the country who are supporting community initiatives that make a difference.
Lucas Hart didn’t think about the difference the right help could make until his father’s life depended on it.
Lucas’s father, Mitch Hart, was 83 years old when he was thrown from his motorcycle on a remote stretch of Kootenay road. “He’s ridden that road a thousand times, but that day something happened,” says Lucas.
Mitch was alone, bleeding heavily, and unable to get up. Cut off from cell phone service, it was 45 minutes before a passerby found him and could reach the nearest town to call for help.
In a life-threatening situation, every available resource counts. KERPA, the Kootenay Emergency Response Physicians Association, is looped into the region’s 911 calls and responded to the emergency. Dr. Nicholas Sparrow, KERPA’s founder and medical director, was the first to arrive and gave Mitch critical emergency care interventions on the scene until he could be transported to a larger hospital in Kelowna.
This year Lucas Hart Financial Services made a generous donation to KERPA. Lucas is the local advisor for Chambers Plan group benefits in the Kootenay region, and its administrator, Johnston Group, was excited to help share his story and match the contribution through their Advisor Charitable Match Program, which is designed to support charitable organizations that are having a direct impact on their local communities..
Critical Care Across Uncertain Conditions
Based in Nelson and Castlegar, KERPA’s volunteer physicians can often be the difference between life and death, especially among the Selkirk Mountains’ rugged roads and isolated communities.
Their two volunteer emergency medical services physicians aid first responders in the region on over 100 threat-to-life missions yearly. These physicians provide free, advanced on-site care, including cardiac monitoring and surgical procedures, in a variety of medical emergencies and mental health crises using a fully equipped response vehicle.
A Vital Part of the Community
“I didn’t know about KERPA until we needed it, and now I hear stories from everyone Dr. Sparrow has saved,” says Lucas. “It seems like every business and community member wants to support him.”
Lucas says he has tremendous respect for Dr. Sparrow, who has shifted to part-time work so he can focus more energy on KERPA.
Alongside the ongoing cost of supplies and equipment upgrades, Lucas hopes this donation will go toward training another physician and increasing KERPA’s response capacity.
“You never know who your donation might help,” says Lucas. “You don’t know what good can come of it until you do, and the rewards may be bigger than you ever expected.”
Despite the accident, Mitch made a full recovery and was back riding his motorcycle two months later.
Lucas Hart and Lucas Hart Financial Services are based in Nelson, proudly offering Chambers Plan in the Kootenay region of British Columbia.
