Gideon Tomaschoff
It was December 2021, and Toronto-based artist Gideon Tomaschoff was living his best life.
Gideon had just returned from taking a Harley-Davidson tour of the Grand Canyon with his family, to celebrate his 65th birthday. Riding his motorcycle in downtown Toronto, he was hit by a car intersecting his path. The head-on crash catapulted him over the hood, propelling his bike in another direction. He found himself lying on his back in the middle of the road, writhing in sharp pain and unable to move: his ribs fractured, a shoulder dislocated—his left foot maimed and bleeding.
“I could barely breathe, and I was in and out of consciousness,” Gideon says. “But I do remember being rushed into St. Michael’s Slaight Family Emergency Department, where the medical team was already waiting for me.”
By the time his wife Sylvie arrived 45 minutes later, Gideon had been evaluated, sedated, x-rayed and splinted. In fact, he recalls the trauma team—led by Dr. Rachel Poley that night—running like a “well-oiled machine.” Dr. Poley also took the time to talk to Sylvie, a retired physician, gently explaining the extent of Gideon’s injuries.
Thankfully, he did not have a head or neck injury, but he did suffer a compound fracture and extensive “degloving” of skin and soft tissue in his lower left leg. He underwent three surgeries over six weeks—the last to reconstruct his leg, a procedure that lasted 10 hours. On top of that, he had bouts with a staph infection and COVID-19, diagnosed upon intake and surgery. In all, Gideon spent 27 days as an in-patient at St. Michael’s.
Gideon admits that he wasn’t the easiest high-priority patient on the ward; he says it was pretty tough for him to be in the hospital during COVID-19 closures and lockdowns, and especially during the winter holidays. But he says his health teams provided exceptional care when it mattered most—at the time when it looked like his life would change dramatically.
Today, Gideon is back to true form. He credits his recovery to the “superb” trauma, orthopedics and plastic surgeons, the “dedicated” anesthesiologist, the “hard-working” infectious disease specialists, and the “ever-vigilant” nurses, clinical assistants and physiotherapists. If not for their expertise and constant encouragement, he says it would have been an uphill climb to get back to painting his abstracts and playing competitive table tennis. He also hopes to one day get back in the saddle again, riding his motorcycle in the countryside.
“I do not have sufficient words to thank St. Michael's and its amazing doctors, nurses and other medical professionals,” says Gideon, who has since donated to St. Michael’s Thank Your Healthcare Champions program to pay it forward. “It’s a truly world-class trauma centre, and I have been a very lucky beneficiary of this landmark institution.”
Visit ThankYouStMikes.ca to express your gratitude to a caregiver or health team at St. Michael’s Hospital!
Donate to St. Michael's Foundation.
