Carla Ellert: Finding purpose & perspective after losing my son
Carla has experienced every parent's worst nightmare - not once, but twice. After grieving the sudden passing of her young daughter, Carla found herself in a similar heartbreaking position when her eight-year old son, Dawson, passed away after complications from surgery to remove a brain tumor. Through unimaginable grief, Carla found purpose in building a legacy for Dawson by helping families so they could experience a little more comfort when placed in sensitive situations comparable to what she went through. Carla and her family started Skate4Smiles, an annual skate-a-thon that started small but quickly captured the hearts of so many people and in five short years, they had raised over $500,000 to help build the Jim Pattison Children's Hospital in Saskatoon. In this interview, Carla holds nothing back as she shares the transferable lessons she learned through immense tragedy, how she was able to transform loss into purpose and the hard earned perspective that has helped in her resilience journey.