Sam

Facts & Arguments: LIVES LIVED
The Globe and Mail December 20, 2007
SAMUEL JONATHAN TRAVIS-MILLER
Son, brother, grandson, hero.
Born Oct. 7, 2004, in Guelph. Died Oct. 7, 2007 in London, Ont., of complications following two liver transplants, aged 3.

Sam was born at 2:01 a.m. on the Thursday before Thanksgiving, a healthy and bouncing 8 pounds, 10 ounces. He was a chubby, hungry, normal baby.

But at 15 months he fell suddenly and catastrophically ill, with no explanation. The mystery illness resulted in blood clots in his liver, necessitating a liver transplant in July, 2006.

His body rejected that liver and he waited 11 months for another transplant, followed immediately by a third when the second liver failed. Sam spent weeks at McMaster Children's Hospital followed by months at the Children's Hospital of Western Ontario. Although he slept in his own house many nights, his days were a blur of hospital visits and procedures.

Despite pain, despite tubes in his nose, chest and stomach, Sam always laughed. He loved Blue's Clues, balloons, bubbles, stars, helicopters and his big brother, Ben. He didn't learn to walk until he was 2½, but his physical limitations never stopped him from having a good time. During one medical procedure, as Sam began to wake up from being sedated, he looked around at the nurses and surgeon and said with complete sincerity, "Thanks for coming, thanks for coming!"

Sam always participated in his medical care. When his IV machine (affectionately called Ivy) beeped, he would stand at the door of his hospital room and shout, "Nurse! Nurse! Ivy is occluded," which meant the flow of intravenous fluid was blocked. But he also learned to say the important things: "I love you" and "thank you" and "want to cuddle."

He will be remembered for his smile, his dimpled cheek, his hair standing up on end and the wicked sparkle in his blue eyes. Sam was affectionate, wise beyond his years and a joy to those who shared his little life. This little life was lived big. Thanks to e-mail, hundreds of friends, relatives and acquaintances were kept informed of Sam's illness.

He taught us how to be brave and how to cry knowing that a smile is just around the corner. And we learned about other heroes - the health professionals who saved him time and again, and the families who donated the organs of loved ones who died tragically young.

Sam died on his third birthday when his heart stopped following two transplants in 72 hours. We miss him every minute. Yet we are blessed by his legacy. When Sammy sensed we were sad, he would come up and whisper, in the words of Blue's Clues, "Don't give up, just go on." We will go on. And we will give thanks that our lives were so enriched and changed by our little miracle.

Rev. Sarah Travis is Sam's mother.

The Bhil Field

The relationship between Presbyterian Church in Canada (click here for more about the PCC) and the Bhil people in central India dates back to 1897, when Rev. Dr. John Buchanan and Dr. Mary Buchanan arrived in Indore.

The Bhils are an aboriginal tribe native to the state of Madhya Pradesh. Historically, they faced discrimination because they were without caste. In other words their status was below even the lowest caste.

The Buchanans and others who followed after them set up churches, schools and hospitals throughout the region including Jobat, a small town located at the western edge of Madhya Pradesh.


In 1952, a young nurse from Ottawa by the name of Pauline Brown arrived in the Bhil field under the auspices of the Women's Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. She set up public health programs to train local villagers in nutrition, disease prevention and midwifery.

Pauline ended up staying for 55 years, with a short break in the 1970's to earn her MSc degree in public health at McMaster University. Pauline is widely recognized for her distinguished service in India. Honours include an honourary doctorate and the Order of Canada. Pauline retired officially in 2007 but she continues to live and work part-time in India.