Twenty Hours in the ER, and Carmen's Plan for Seniors

Not long before we filmed with her in September 2026, Carmen had a trip to the emergency room of her own. She did not dwell on the medical side. What stayed with her was the waiting, and what it made her think about older people.

Twenty hours on a cold bed

She went in alone. "Here, an emergency wait is at least seven hours," she says. "That day I waited twenty hours before someone saw me." She remembers a cold bed and nobody really checking on her, while she felt dizzy the whole time.

About herself, she keeps it short. "For me it was okay. I'm young, and I can still manage the language."

What if it were an older person

Then her thoughts go to people who cannot manage. "If it were an elderly person," she says. "When my mother was in hospital, I stayed with her almost twenty-four hours a day." Her mother needed someone there because of the language. Carmen could do it because she runs her own business. "But many families don't have those conditions. They have their own jobs, their own families."

That is where the idea grew. "I feel we have to care for older people," she says. "I hope that one day I'll have the ability to organise some people to help them, to go with them to the emergency room. I think that would be very meaningful."

A plan that has already started

When we asked whether it had begun, she said yes, it was just getting started. A friend of hers is registering a small platform, and its services include accompanying people. Carmen hopes it succeeds and turns the plan into something real.

She has thought about who the helpers could be. Many newcomers to Canada need a way to become part of their new community when they first arrive. Some mothers at home have time to give. On one side there would be capable volunteers with free hours, and on the other, older people who need someone beside them. The platform would match the two, so that when a volunteer has time, they can go along.

Why it fits who she is

Carmen often talks about the people who helped her when her business was struggling, the suppliers, her landlords, her friends and her mother. You can read some of those stories in During COVID, Carmen Kept Serving and on our About us page. This plan points the same way, from the help she received to help she wants to organise for others. You can find Carmen at the shop at 78 Rue De La Gauchetière Ouest.