Nina Kautuq’s body is still healing from the 2015 tent fire that claimed the lives of her husband and three of her four children. But her emotional healing finally began in February, when she met the nurses and doctor who cared for her dying children.

Patients travelling far from home for cancer treatment can feel isolated, but The Ottawa Hospital and Ottawa Senators are working together to help lift patients’ spirits and give them an experience they will never forget.

It moves some to tears. Others are shocked, yet hopeful. Anger, guilt and shame can also come with the heightened awareness hospital staff members have after taking part in the KAIROS Blanket Exercise, which retells 500 years of Canada’s history through the perspective of First Nations, Inuit and Métis.

Other patients clapped as Robert Ukaliannuk rang the triangle after his last radiation treatment and celebrated with a “shake it all off” traditional healing dance. But the moment was bittersweet, given the long road that brought him to The Ottawa Hospital’s Cancer Centre.