Elissa and Shane on their wedding day.
Elissa and Shane met in Vancouver, BC and moved back to Elissa's hometown of Kenora in 2011 (Shane a few months after Elissa, you know it's true love when you follow someone across five provinces to be together!). The couple was engaged on Christmas morning in 2012 and tragically, four days later on December 29th, Shane was diagnosed with treatable, but not curable colorectal cancer. Shane would battle the disease for years to come and spend much of his time at Lake of the Woods District Hospital (LWDH).
In April 2021, Shane faced a bowel obstruction that was life threatening. In conversation with Elissa during this time, Dr. Susan Ghazali, an LWDH general surgeon (with a heart of gold!), referred to Shane as Elissa's husband. “A wedding was always something we wanted, but Shane's health had to come first," explained Elissa when she corrected Dr. Ghazali, saying that they weren't actually married yet. “This really got Dr. Ghazali's wheels turning, she and Char Melillo (a palliative care nurse with LWDH) really spearheaded the idea of having a wedding in the hospital". In less than 48-hours a small but mighty LWDH team, together with Elissa, made the wedding happen.
It was all hands on deck!
- Lesa Sieradzki a Cook with the LWDH Food & Nutrition team made a beautiful wedding cake.
- Aimee Baldwin, LWDH's in-house seamstress, made last minute alterations to a wedding dress generously loaned to Elissa by medical floor social worker Pamela Siemens (and we mean LAST MINUTE, Aimee stitched up the dress right before the ceremony!!).
- Tina & Stephanie from LWDH Chemotherapy transformed the hospital's spiritual space into a beautiful wedding chapel.
- Joelle Thomson a charge nurse on 3E found an incredible volunteer to capture the nuptials (her husband is well-known photographer Tom Thomson).
- The LWDH IT team made is possible Shane's family members in BC and MB to view the ceremony through Skype.
- LWDH's Spiritual Care Coordinator and friend of the couple – Judy Day-Janz coordinated someone to officiate the ceremony (her husband Gord) just so happens to be a Pastor.
“Shane was really, really sick the day of the wedding," Elissa shared. 
But, “come hell or highwater, I was getting married," says Shane. Blessed with a great friend, Shane's best man Jason helped him get dressed that day, “he combed my hair, tied my tie and physically got me to the ceremony in a wheelchair."
Elissa, worried that Shane was in such extreme pain that day, may not be coherent for the ceremony. But, as their wedding video shows, Shane was articulate and elegant as he spoke to his beautiful bride.
Surrounded by a tiny loving and supportive group the couple was married on April 21, 2021 at Lake of the Woods District Hospital.
Miraculously, after the wedding, Shane's condition improved enough that he was able to return home for three months. This would be why he is described by his wife as “stubborn" and “a fighter who likes to prove people wrong!" Elissa believes their wedding may have been the boost Shane needed to get through (we truly believe this too!). During this time, the couple was contacted by Shaw Spotlight to share their love story. Shaw Spotlight celebrates, engages, and connects local communities though producing human-interest stories from all across Canada in diverse short-form documentaries. Producer Vicky Donath created an absolutely beautiful video telling their story. The video “A Love Worth Fighting For" can be found on www.shawspotlight.ca.
Elissa and Shane shared about Char Melillo, part of Shane's care team and Palliative Care Nurse at LWDH, saying she is an absolute godsend. “The entire team at LWDH is extremely kind and are like family. When we had to call the ambulance to bring Shane back to the hospital this time, it was Char's day off. Without asking she came to our house and helped us with everything we needed. She is truly a guardian angel."
Char often visited the couple at home throughout the three months Shane spent at home this spring/summer. Being discharged from the hospital in no way meant the Care Team took a break, they were there every step of the way.
“I truly adore Shane and Elissa. From the first time I met them, Elissa immediately got my attention. I can read her eyes and her body language. She was in a lot of emotional pain seeing Shane in pain. She is an incredible, loving and supporting person. I told myself - Shane must be a lucky man to have her. The more I got to know them, I watched how Shane treated her with tenderness and love. What a wonderful couple. They communicate with each other with love and support. They engaged all of us with them right away and immediately we all wanted to be part of their comfort zone. We lived their pain and we lived their happiness. It is nourishing to us to see the nourishing love between the two of them. It is incredible for all of us to see how they are connected to each other. They have brought much happiness and tears to me and I am so glad to have met them." - Dr. Ghazali
Shane Michael Philip Bice ~ August 30, 1973 – August 27, 2021
In lieu of flowers, if you would like to make a donation in Shane's memory, the Lake of the Woods District
Hospital Foundation and the Never Alone Cancer Foundation (neveralonefoundation.ca) are organizations to which Shane would have liked the opportunity to give back.