Comforting assistance

BY ELYSE AMEND

elyse.amend@transcontinental.ca

When Kirkland resident Gina Fiore saw a contest in collaboration with Matelas Bonheur and Tempur Canada while reading The Chronicle a few months ago, she thought it would be a great opportunity to try and win a new pressure relieving mattress for her brother in law, Patrice Cossette, who was afflicted with deep vein thrombosis after a hockey accident four years ago.

But after entering, she was disappointed to find out the contest was not for a new mattress, but for a vacation instead.

“So, I thought I’d write them a letter to see if it could be the bed instead,” Fiore said. A little while later, she received a pleasant surprise: although her entry was not picked for the contest, Matelas Bonheur and Tempur Canada decided to get together and provide Cossette with a new mattress.

“We had been shopping and shopping for a new mattress. It’s not easy to find the right one,” Cossette said. A simple hit during a recreational hockey game caused a blood clot in Cossette’s leg that went untreated for 10 days. Four years later, he has to wear special socks, take blood thinners, and suffers pain. “There’s no cure.”

Patrice Mathieu, the provincial sales manager at Tempur Canada, said Cossette’s new mattress is designed to have no pressure points, which should provide him with more comfort.

“It’s exactly what he needs for his condition,” Mathieu said.

Johanne Betournay, marketing director for Matelas Bonheur, said they were just happy to help.

“It really touched us, and we’re happy that he’ll be able to sleep better and have more comfortable days,” she said.

As for Cossette’s hockey career, he said he plans to keep playing despite his condition, thanks to some inspiration from his 13-year-old nephew, who has two brain tumours.

“We were watching (a hockey game) and I was feeling sad, because I though I wouldn’t be able to do that again. And he asked me ‘why,’” Cossette said. “And I thought, he’s right, so I still do it.”