Yellowknife (Sep 22/06) - Frank "Fox" Morin was given five years to live. That was in 1999: seven years ago.

After contracting Hepatitis C in the 1970s from heroin filled syringes, he came close to death in 1999 and was saved by a liver transplant the same year.

Frank "Fox" Morin, a hepatitis C survivor and educator, was in Yellowknife to organize the National Aboriginal Hepatitis C Conference here. It will be held next June; in the capital. - Erika Sherk/NNSL photo

He calls his survival a miracle. It turned his life around, he said.

"When I got out of the hospital I made a commitment to myself to educate people on Hep C," he said.

He kept his vow and travels as an educational speaker to this day.

He also founded the National Aboriginal Hepatitis C Conference, the reason he was in Yellowknife this week. He was attending meetings for its first Northern conference. It will be held in Yellowknife, next June.

After three previous conferences held in Edmonton, Vancouver, and Regina, Morin was determined to have the next one up North.

Born in Hay River, he spent a large part of his life in the NWT.

"I really, really pushed to have this conference in the North because there's no information or education about hep C here and I know our people need it," he said.

It can be a challenge for Northern people to get information, he said, which was why he wanted it here.

The conference will be held June 17 to 20. Key speakers and discussion groups will be interspersed with a drum dance and fish fry.

"I don't expect many people from the South out for this conference," he said, adding that was fine. "This conference is for the people of the North."