Dane Gibson
Northern News Services

NNSL (May 24/99) - Love, joy and spirit are words that appear together, or one at a time, in most phrases spoken by Mary-Ellen Hoyles.

She seems unaware of the phenomenon -- and seems equally unaware that those qualities flow from her like a river.

After spending 21 years nursing sick children back to health at Stanton Hospital, caring for others is the only language she understands.

"Basically, life is awesome," she says simply. "It's what you make of it. I mean, it can be a great adventure where you roll with the punches or you can complain your way through it. I've always been one to roll with the punches."

Like many Northerners, a series of strange twists of fate brought Hoyles to Yellowknife.

After graduating from the British Columbia Institute of Technology in 1975, she found nursing work in Hope, B.C.

That's where she first heard of a place called Yellowknife.

A co-worker, who had lived in the Northern town for several years, spun tales of magical Northern lights and long days. But Hoyles, still in her early 20s, had visions of sandy beaches -- not frozen lakes.

"I quit my job in Hope in 1977 and took off on a six-month trip through the South Pacific," Hoyles says.

"While travelling, my friend and I tried to get working visas. We had visions of being nurses on an island paradise, but nobody needed nurses. We got holiday working visas instead, which meant we could pick fruit."

She came back to Vancouver, her birthplace, and started to look for nursing work right away. At the time, there were many opportunities in Northern B.C.

"I looked up my friend in Hope who had lived in Yellowknife and she told me if I'm going to go North, go all the way," Hoyles says.

She sent out applications to both Whitehorse and Yellowknife, but heard nothing for eight weeks.

After checking back, she received a call from Yellowknife and accepted the job. An hour later, the phone rang again.

"What's strange is about an hour later, someone from Whitehorse called and offered me a job. Things might have been different if those calls were reversed."

Never having been North before, Hoyles decided to make a trip of it. With her sister along as sidekick, they loaded up Hoyle's Fiat and hit the road to Yellowknife.

"Just north of High Level we hit dirt road. We had no idea when it was going to end," Hoyles says. "On the map, Enterprise had a big star and circle around it so we thought it was a thriving metropolis. When we got there we were shocked."

"I remember asking -- where are we and where are we going?"

Amazingly, the two young women made it, and after the long journey, Yellowknife looked like the Emerald City to the weary travellers.

"After all that, we arrived and it was marvellous. We couldn't believe the high-rises in the middle of nowhere," Hoyles says."That and all the sunlight. We had found our city."

Hoyle's sister stayed a week and bussed it home, at which time Hoyles immersed herself in her job, and the Northern lifestyle.

"It was a great summer. I was 24 and the environment was totally foreign to anything I'd experienced -- it was just one big party," she recalled.

"In those days, we didn't know anybody so we immediately developed fast friendships. They're friendships I still have today."

She found out early that nursing in the North was a sink or swim situation. The turnover rate for nurses was high, the workload extreme. Hoyles was put into pediatrics -- a department she's been connected to ever since.

"We had the opportunity to jump in and learn everything about pediatrics and different cultures. It was a different way of doing nursing," she says.

"In those days, many patients didn't speak english, and often kids were Medevac'd in without their parents. It was very busy and always fascinating."

She recalled a night when a mother came in and shook her baby out of an Amauti onto a treatment room table. At the time, Hoyles couldn't say if the child was dead or alive.

"We learned that the baby was alive, but barely. We just jumped into action. God was kind to us that night because she survived," Hoyles said.

"I always looked at those situations as learning experiences. We would have nights where two of us were caring for 18 to 20 babies. It was crazy and we worked hard, but there was a lot of joy and laughing.

"Just seeing kids get better and seeing the results of our hard work was reward enough. The people that chose to stay made it good and made it positive."

The harsh reality of the North was something she was constantly reminded of. Meningitis, respiratory problems and tuberculosis were just a few of the more common illnesses babies came in with.

"By the time the parents in the communities recognized their child was ill, got the child to the nursing station and if weather permitted, were able to Medevac them to us, they were either critically ill or had died on the trip," Hoyles said.

"It made it tough because often there weren't parents around for us to console, we often consoled ourselves," she said, her eyes welling with tears. "Nurses grieve, even if it's only for a short time. You don't have to know someone to know that each little child we try to help is a gift of life -- a child who is dear to someone."

The tears continue to flow as she remembers the faces, smiles, and heartaches -- the things she calls "gifts."

"You know, even though some kids weren't meant to be here for very long, they give tremendous joy and allow us to love them unconditionally," Hoyles says.

"People get hung up on how awful and sad it is but these beautiful children teach us so many great things. There's just so many lessons they deliver to us about life -- and why it's important to respect and enjoy it."

Hoyles, who started as a staff nurse, is now manager of internal child services and acting director of patient care services.

She is also a Girl Guide leader, Salvation Army volunteer and, after divorcing her first husband, is a single mother of three teenagers. When asked about hobbies, she laughs.

"Gee, I like to read when I have the chance," she says.

After recapping her life's journey, Hoyles shakes her head -- a mixture of disbelief and wonder etched on her face.

"My plan was to be here a year or two but I was having so much fun I stayed," Hoyles says.

"I have to say it's been a great life. When I talk to friends or family members who have stayed in their neat little worlds, I think about what a great time I've had."

She is interrupted by the phone ringing. It's Hoyle's daughter informing her she's late.

"I've always enjoyed an adventure and I find a lot of people in the North are like that. The people that end up hanging around here have a love of life -- they enjoy life to its fullest," she says getting up to leave.

"I expect to be here a long time yet. I love nursing, I love my staff and I love my family. It's a great place to be."