OUR MISSION

"The Foundation was created by Jon DeHaan, a business man who found his success in the hospitality business but unfortunately suffered a heart attack in 1979 at the early age of 39 years. Following successful bypass surgery, Jon set out to educate himself about cardiac healthcare. And one of the first things he learned is his new bypass grafts had a disappointingly short estimated use of expiry. This motivated Jon to begin funding cardiac research, which ranged everywhere from the development of stents in the early days, to stem cell therapy in the decade of the 2000s, up until today’s grants for medical innovation. As fate would have it, Jon’s investment in research would end up benefiting him personally, as you see, some years later, Jon would need another procedure in which he received a stent that, in part, his original funding helped develop.

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Jon isn’t able to be here today. But I’m happy to report he’s doing well in retirement and will soon celebrate his 80th birthday. Something he couldn’t imagine back in 1979. His bypass grafts remain functional, exceeding their original estimated lifespan by a factor of three or four times thanks to medical innovations made over the years. Jon realizes that these hard-won advancements and innovations and the medical professionals who delivered them, they are responsible for him living a full life. And he is delighted to give back to the community that has given him so much."

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~ Excerpt from the speech given by Tom DeHaan on behalf of the Foundation at ICI Meeting 2019