At a Crossroads, Sydney Chooses Happiness

Sydney’s life began with a challenge most people never have to face.

When she was just 5 days old, Sydney was admitted to Shriners Hospitals for Children Canada, a place that would become as familiar to her as her own heartbeat. Born with bilateral club feet, she entered the world already fighting – but never fighting alone.

From infancy through early childhood, her days were marked by several cast changes in a single week – and the weight of a Denis Browne Bar keeping her tiny feet in place. She underwent three surgeries on each foot, all performed by Thierry Benaroch, M.D., whose steady hands and steadfast care guided her through the most fragile years of her life.

His work made her right foot straight and strong – it learned to flex, bend and carry her forward. But her left foot remained stubborn and twisted. It refused to walk heel-to-toe, refused to follow the rules and even now requires a brace. Even so, Sydney learned early that progress isn’t always perfect, and strength doesn’t always look symmetrical.

Growing up, she chased every sport she could: taekwondo, flag football, soccer, gymnastics, dance and ballet. She moved from activity to activity with the determination of someone trying to find a place where her body felt like it belonged. That place, it turned out, was the water. Swimming made her feel weightless and free. Her doctor always said it was the best thing for her, and Sydney always knew he was right.

Recently, she completed a bread-making program, discovering joy in shaping dough into something warm and real. She’s now considering pastry training or maybe a path working with children – possibilities that feel bright and open, like doors she’s ready to walk through.

But graduation nearly slipped away when she couldn’t find a stage placement. That’s when Dino, the cafeteria manager at Shriners Hospitals for Children Canada, stepped in. It was not planned that he would offer her a work placement. Yet he did – because sometimes people see potential where others only see obstacles. He gave her a three-week stage, a chance she desperately needed.

There, amid ovens and cooling racks, Sydney found her rhythm. She created her own food label, baked cookies day after day, packaged them and sold them. Some days were slow, especially Fridays and weekends, but she kept going. By the end, she had earned $452.53.

And she knew exactly where the money belonged: Shriners Hospitals for Children Canada.

Because Sydney isn’t finished with the hospital, not by a long shot. On December 1 of the previous year, she became a Daughter of the Nile, continuing her connection with the place that shaped her. Every year, she and her grandfather proudly join the Christmas parade with the hospital’s float – a tradition that binds them together just as much as it binds Sydney to the community that lifted her up.

This December, her grandfather will stand beside her again as she presents her donation at the board meeting – a symbol of gratitude, resilience and the extraordinary circle of care that has guided her since the day she entered the world.

Sydney began her life at Shriners Hospitals for Children Canada, carried by the hands of doctors, nurses and people who believed in her future. Now, piece by piece, she is giving something back, proving that the heart grows strongest in places where it has been held with love.