A Life Changed by Loss
In less than a year, Lindsey Vukicevic lost her sister, her mother, her father and the life she thought she was building.
For Lindsey, success once meant long days on the road and a steady pay cheque as a national sales manager. The money was good, and at the time, she believed the sacrifices were worth it. But after the devastating loss of her sister to suicide following a long struggle with mental health, her understanding of what truly mattered changed forever.
Lindsey was left carrying the painful reality that she hadn’t made it home in time to be with her sister. Soon after, her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given just three weeks to live. And in that same year, her father was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia.
“I didn’t realize what mattered the most wasn’t the money,” Lindsey says. “It was the time you had with your family and friends. That’s the only thing you can’t get back. I lost everything that I had taken for granted.”
Her parents taught Lindsey the value of connection above everything. Her father worked passionately on preserving the planet and her mother had been a dedicated special needs teacher. They both went above and beyond with the compassion they had for others. When they left this world behind, their memories left a space that felt impossible to fill.
“I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t want to go back to school or get another degree.”
Before her mom passed away, one of her nurses had told Lindsey she would make an amazing nurse. Lindsey had laughed it off, “Yeah right – you want me to deal with all of that?”
But those words stayed with her.
Finding Purpose Through Care
As she searched for a new sense of purpose, Lindsey found herself returning to the compassion and care she had witnessed during her mother’s illness.
Maybe she could be that source of comfort for someone else.
She enrolled in a care aide program and began volunteering, supporting recreation programs and community dinners.
“It filled a void in my heart,” she says. “In those moments, they became the family I had lost.”
Wanting to hold onto that feeling, she continued to work in senior care. Residents would remember her birthday or stop her in the hallway just to say hello. Small gestures that reminded her she mattered to someone else.
“I didn’t really see the people there as patients or residents, I don’t see the sick or the vulnerable. I see a house, and everyone is welcome in this house. While you are here, I will show you love and respect like family. Everyone is welcome in my home.”
Answering the Need in Surrey
Lindsey began to rebuild her purpose, and she found herself wanting to do even more. To be in the places where the need was the greatest. To make a difference in a deeper, more meaningful way. Living in Surrey, she could see the growing pressures facing a region expanding faster than anywhere else in the province, with more families than ever relying on a system working hard to keep pace.
“I wanted to change things here in my home. Surrey Memorial Hospital is important. More and more people are coming through these doors, more than anywhere else.”
Now the busiest emergency department in B.C., Surrey Memorial Hospital, saw more than 180,000 visits last year alone, with demand continuing to rise every year.
“There are people everywhere,” she says. “They’re here during the worst times of their lives. They’re scared. They’re in pain. They’re sick.” Lindsey explains, “This is where I needed to be.”
The Human Side of Emergency Care
Sometimes, she says, the most important care isn’t clinical.
“Sometimes the best we can do is say, ‘We’re here for you. We’ll figure this out.’”
It might be finding a blanket to comfort a patient. Sitting beside someone who has no family at a vulnerable time. Listening, really listening, in a moment when someone feels completely alone.
“For that short period of time,” she says, “you get to be their family.”
That’s what made her fall in love with the Emergency Department.
While the system continues to face growing pressure, Lindsey focuses on what she can control. The moments where she can make a difference. The moments that remind us that we’re human and not alone.
“I don’t do this job for money, I don’t do this for career or for an award. I am part of a huge department; I am a small piece of that puzzle. But if I can come here as a person with open arms and help patients feel a bit better – that makes everything worth the while.”
Lindsey is quick to recognize all the people working in the Emergency Department. “We’re not perfect, sometimes we fall. When we fall, there are teams of hundreds behind us who will pick us back up. With a team, you will never completely fall.”
Building the Future of Emergency Care
When asked what she hopes for the future, Lindsey doesn’t hesitate.
“I want to make this the best emergency department in the country,” Then she pauses, smiling. “It’s the team working together that makes something great. To fulfil a bigger purpose. People helping people. That’s the secret to life.”
It’s a mantra she carries forward for the family she lost, by becoming that presence for someone else. And when you walk through those doors, Lindsey will be there to welcome you.
Like family.
