Fort St. John voice shares meaningful World Down Syndrome Day Reflection

Awareness isn’t just about understanding a diagnosis, it’s about seeing the person and celebrating their life while creating a world where everyone belongs.

Bensyn Buck during his admission at BC Children's Hospital.

There are moments in life which will shape your journey in ways you don’t fully understand at the time, for our family, that moment came when we learned Benny would be born with Down Syndrome. It didn’t change our love for him, not even for a second, but it did mark the beginning of a path we hadn’t expected, and we had no idea just how much more was ahead.

Shortly after Bensyn was born on October 31, 2024, doctors discovered he had multiple heart defects, and then last year on January 3, our world shifted again. We were told our son was going to need specialized care, and just like that we were packed in a plane, leaving Fort St. John for B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, more than a 13-hour drive from home.

Bensyn is our youngest of four children, and when the decision was made to move him to Children’s Hospital, their grandmother promptly filled our shoes here in the North Peace. She did this both at home and with the Alaska Highway News, as we watched over our son in the south.

It was under Children’s Hospital’s roof we would spend the next 240 days.

It’s nearly impossible to fully describe what last year was like for our family. Long exhausting days and nights blurred together, as we faced moments filled with fear, difficult decisions, and more learning than we ever imagined we’d face as parents.

But there was also something else, something powerful, there was kindness.

The nurses who cared for Bensyn were simultaneously there for us, first as staff, and then as friends. The doctors carried both skill and compassion into every conversation while the volunteers showed up with open hearts and kind gestures, meaning everything to a family so far from home. Social workers such as Kumsa Yuya, music therapy, pet therapy and moments of light broke through even our darkest days.

And beyond the hospital walls there was home, our community.

From Fort St. John, we felt the support through messages, prayers, encouragement, and people rallying around us in ways we’ll never forget during a time when we felt far away, we knew we were never truly alone.

Bensyn received life-saving care during those 240 days, care that gave us more time, more memories, and more hope.

For now, we are home again.

Bensyn Buck is at home now in the North Peace while waiting on a list, to be scheduled in for the open heart surgery.

Our journey isn’t over as Bensyn still has multiple heart surgeries ahead of him, relies on oxygen support and feeding support, and needs numerous medications around the clock. There are still unknowns, still challenges waiting down the road, but there is also strength we didn’t know we had, built day by day through everything our family has faced.

There is also gratitude for the care team at B.C. Children’s Hospital, gratitude for the support of our community, and gratitude for every single moment we get with our son.

If there’s one thing this journey has shown us it’s that family is your foundation, but it’s community that lifts you up when you don’t have anything left to give.

Bensyn’s story is still being written, and while we don’t know exactly what the next chapter holds, we do know this has already changed our lives in the best possible way.

And we are not walking this road alone.

 Thank you to our family, our friends, and our community who continue to stand with us through this journey.