Surrey born, Newton raised
Aidan was born at Surrey Memorial Hospital in 2002, back when the Family Birthing Unit was still relatively new. He grew up in Newton, in the same city his family still calls home.
“This place raised me,” he says. “Surrey gets a lot of flak, but it’s a beautiful city. It’s diverse. It’s resilient. It’s full of good people.”
Learning compassion at home
Compassion has always been part of Aidan’s life, shaped first by his mother. Long before he considered a career in health care, he watched her show up for others, often quietly, often behind the scenes. She was involved in animal welfare since the 1980s, volunteering with the BC SPCA and later running a rescue program out of their home. Over time, that work grew into a non-profit society called ARC Rescue and Training, focused on rehoming animals and supporting adopters so placements would last. Aidan is a director for ARC Rescue and Training alongside his mother to advocate for both animals and people.
Through her, Aidan learned what it meant to care consistently, to keep showing up, even when it was hard, and even when no one was watching.
When he was three years old, his mother was diagnosed with cancer. She was given a devastating prognosis. Bracing for the worst, Aidan watched as the care she received across Surrey and Metro Vancouver helped her. Despite the odds being stacked against her, compassion won the day.
“She’s healthy now and living her best life,” Aidan says. “The teams who cared for her saved her. Going through that moment gave me confidence that we were in good hands.”
Those lessons shaped how Aidan moved through the world.
Choosing emergency nursing in Surrey
In elementary school, he gravitated toward first aid and babysitting courses. By Grade 8, he joined a First Responder team at school. In high school, he became part of MedVents through Scouts Canada, volunteering medical support at community events and steadily upgrading his certifications.
“I like being the person who steps in when something goes wrong,” he says. “There’s something grounding about knowing how to help in a moment of chaos.”
He spent five years working as a lifeguard across Surrey and Delta, and volunteering as a First Responder. Paramedicine briefly crossed his mind, but mentors were honest about the realities of the job. Their advice stayed with him: if you want to make the biggest impact, you should join emergency nursing.
So Aidan set clear goals and progressed quickly. Right after high school, he completed his prerequisites and entered BCIT’s nursing program. From the beginning, he had one clear goal.
“I always knew I wanted to be in Surrey Emergency,” he says. “This is my city. If I was going to do this work, it had to be here. It had to be my hospital.”
Inside Surrey Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Department
During nursing school, Aidan was recruited into Surrey Memorial Hospital’s Employed Student Nurse (ESN) program, allowing him to work in the Emergency Department as a student nurse while completing his degree. He remembers the first time he walked into the unit. Despite all his training, nothing prepared him for the reality.
“There were more patients in hallways than in rooms,” he recalls. “Stretchers lined the corridors. Staff tried to move equipment through spaces that weren’t built for this volume.”
He pauses. “People were just trying to survive. You could feel it. This place needs help.”
He graduated in July 2025 and began working full-time as a Registered Nurse weeks later.
The growing pressure on Surrey’s health care system
The pressure hasn’t eased. If anything, it’s grown.
“We’re mentally and physically exhausted,” Aidan says plainly. “Every day the numbers increase, and there’s no immediate relief in sight.”
And yet, he speaks about his colleagues with unmistakable pride.
“These are the most passionate nurses I’ve ever worked with. New grads, senior nurses, everyone. Some of them don’t even live in Surrey. They’re here because they know this is where the need is greatest.”
The constant pressure of his work showed how the limits of the system became impossible to ignore.
“There are moments that stay with you,” he says. “When a patient asks me for a room and I know I can’t give them one, it breaks my heart. I want to give them the best care possible. I wish I could say, I’ve got you. But sometimes the cards are stacked against us.”
Giving back to support patient care south of the Fraser
For Aidan, those moments don’t stop at the end of a shift. They stay with him. They leave him asking how else he can help.
Seeing the strain from the inside and knowing how much patients depend on what’s available in those moments, made him want to show up in every way he could. Supporting Surrey Hospitals Foundation felt like a natural extension of that instinct. A way to help raise care beyond what the system alone can provide.
“I’ve always known the hospital has a Foundation,” he says. “And when you see how stretched things are, you realize that every little bit helps.”
For him, giving wasn’t about recognition. It’s about the people who walk through the doors. The people he calls family.
“We’re not wealthy,” he adds. “But my parents taught me that you give what you can, when you can. If there’s a way to support better care, even in a small way, I want to do that for patients.”
Why he continues to show up for Surrey
When asked if he wanted to share anything with the world, Aidan had one thing to say: the strain isn’t from a lack of effort. It’s the opposite.
“Everyone here is trying,” he says. “Doctors, nurses, care aides, interpreters, respiratory therapists, people are working beyond capacity because they care.”
The reality is that Surrey is growing. Demand is increasing. The system is under real pressure. But Aidan doesn’t shy away from that reality.
“There are good people here,” he says. “We are hoping for better nurse to patient ratios and people are starting to recognize the need. Until then, we’ll keep showing up for everyone.”
He smiles, just slightly.
“We could have easier lives elsewhere,” he says. “But we’re here for a reason.”
Tomorrow, Aidan will walk through those doors again. Showing up for the city that raised him, and for the people who need him most.
