MEET CHRISTINE GASPAR

A while back, John Bull offered to run a profile of me, for an issue of , The Immortalist. Although I was very flattered by the offer, I had put the issue on hold for a while. Maybe it was because I just didn’t know how to write about my life in a way that would sound interesting to others, or maybe it was stage fright. Anyhow, I’ve been giving the idea some thought, and figured it couldn’t hurt too much to give this a try...

As for the basics, I was born in London, Ontario, Canada, February 12th, 1973 and have spent most of my life living within an hour or so from Toronto, Canada. My parents emigrated from Portugal in the mid sixties to London Ontario, where they met, . During elementary school, I attended an enrichment program offered to "gifted students" and actually skipped grade 8, going from grade 7 to high school. At the age of 14, I joined the Air Cadets, and from early on, my interests were mostly in military or law enforcement careers, I didn’t actually become interested in medicine until becoming an army medic later on.

When I turned 17, in 1990, I joined the Canadian Army, (reserves). I spent 2 years in the Lorne Scots Regiment, an infantry unit, as a field medic. I was actually the first female to join (and make it through boot camp) in "C" company, which was based in Georgetown, Ontario.

In the Canadian military, women can participate in front line occupations, and actually train together, with men- there aren’t separate "women’s corps" there. I then transferred to the 11th Field Artillery Regiment, out of Guelph, where I worked for another 2 years. Briefly, before resigning from the army, in 1994, I joined an Intelligence Company, based out of CFB (Canadian Forces Base) Downsview, in Toronto. During my time in the army, my favourite task was handling weapons, and I actually distinguished myself as an excellent marksman. (As you can tell from the huge smile on my face) I can honestly say that the experience of being in the Army gave me a tremendous amount of confidence, and taught me that, cheesy as it sounds, anything is possible if you want it badly enough.

(This is me at the age of 15, in the Air Cadets. We went on a field trip to a military base in Philadelphia, where we got to play with some of their toys)

I made a trip to a US army recruiting office, in Buffalo NY, but I couldn’t work out the necessary immigration hurtles to join the US army. I went to George Brown College, in Toronto, too, for about a month, for Hotel Management. Alas, I decided, during an accounting class, that this really wasn’t the job for me, so I actually got up out of that class and walked out, never looking back.

This photo, with me on the left, was taken at a party held at the 11th Field Artillery Regiment, probably in 1992

OK...before I am labeled a total airhead, I must say that I did end up going to college, in 1995, and chose to try my hand at a nursing career. I had met my long time boyfriend, Andrew in 1993, and he and I ended up going to school together- he took Automotive Marketing, and I took nursing- both 3 year programs. Part of that decision was based on my experience as a medic, and part of it was influenced by the fact that Andrew’s mother was a nurse, thus exposing me to that potential career. It was during this time, that I finally got my hands on a personal computer, and the Internet, and got the chance to indulge my growing interest in science, and medicine. I became fascinated with cloning, nanotechnology, and other "Discovery Channel" type topics on life extension and transhumanism. There was a TV series at the time, (1997) hosted by Gillian Anderson, called "Future Fantastic" that I was riveted by.

This fuelled my interest in high tech biology and physics. Somehow, and I am not sure how this actually started, I ended up doing some reading on cryonics. As long as I can remember, I have had a genuine dis-interest in dying, but I cannot recall when this interest solidified into a genuine interest in cryonics.

It was then, when I lived in Barrie, Ontario, going to college, that I first spoke with Ben Best. At first, we had only had a couple of phone conversations, which got me a few strange looks from Andrew, but he was getting used to my ideas on science, or at least remaining quiet about his skepticism.

Then, for a while, Ben and I lost contact completely. I graduated from college in 1998, and at this point, moved to Texas with Andrew. He went there to get a BBA, in a school in the Dallas area, and I went along for the adventure, and to try my hand in an American hospital. In 1998, nursing jobs in Canada were few and far between. I ended up getting a job on a medical floor, which was a good way to start as a new grad.

In the spring of ’99, Andrew graduated from university with a BBA. I really wanted to go to California, at the time, but he had a stronger inclination to return home to Canada, and I wasn’t really interested in moving on alone

He had emigrated once, from Russia, in 1991, and wasn’t really interested in doing it again. If I remember correctly, I did have a couple of conversations with Ben Best while in Texas, but if so, they were few and far between. Lucky for me, when I returned to Canada, the nursing job market was looking a little better, and jobs were opening up. I worked for a year doing visiting (home care) nursing.

In July of 2000, I saw an ad in the paper for full time ER positions at North York General Hospital, in Toronto, which included full training in critical care and an extensive internship. Since becoming a nurse, the area of nursing I wanted most to work in was the ER, so I did everything I could to get this job. I was hired in August of 2000, and so began a 3-month in-class and on the job orientation, to prepare me for the hardest and best job I have ever had. Here I got my fill of what the busiest ER in the city, and one of the busiest ER’s in the country has to offer. We got our gang bangers, drive by shootings, drug dealers, you name it. I actually learned several handy phrases in Cantonese, quite a bit of conversational Russian- well, mostly bad words, and mostly from Andrew, and assorted words in Farsi, Hungarian and Mandarin.

We actually had what we called theme nights, where for some inexplicable reason, everyone would seem to show up with the same symptoms.. We had "croup nights", "drunk nights", "abdominal pain nights", and even once, we had "prison night". This was on one particular Saturday night, when a fight had broken out at a local high security prison. We had twelve separate groups of "guys in leg chains and orange jumpsuits- with two cops a piece" show up with various injuries. Besides scaring the heck out of the other patients, it actually looked very comical. There was another night that stood out, where a large group of Russian gang members had a sword Besides scaring the heck out of the other patients, it actually looked very comical. There was another night that stood out, where a large group of Russian gang members had a sword fight in a nearby park. We had a lot of guys show up that night with holes in their bodies, and very vague, inconsistent stories to go along with their wounds.

(This is a photo of me, in a "Stryker suit" which became a necessity during high-risk procedures, during and after the SARS outbreak, spring 2003)

This was the type of job which provided me with endless material for really questionable, and I thought funny, dinner table conversation. Oh and by the way, nights with full moons always brought out the most weirdoes- ask any ER nurse and he or she will agree.

I worked at this hospital until February of 2004. As many of you know, our hospital was host to one of the two SARS epidemics that ravaged Toronto in 2003. Our doors were closed for 3 months, as we tried to deal with the onslaught of this disease. I posted many updates on Cryonet during this time, describing the ordeal in as much detail as I could. We re-opened in late August, but it left a lot of scars, both on our institution, and on us as individuals.

On a positive note, in August of 2003, in an attempt to encourage tourism to our city and send a message to the world that SARS was going away, we hosted a huge outdoor concert in Downsview, Toronto. It featured twelve hours of big bands, including the Rolling Stones as the headlining band in a concert that saw more than half a million spectators. As our ER was still closed, we got the opportunity to staff the huge (200-bed) field hospital at this concert, which was located in an airplane hangar behind the stage. The area hosting this concert was an old military airfield that actually hosted the Pope’s visit the summer before, for World Youth Day. Incidentally, that event brought together over a million spectators, in the same airfield. If you are interested in seeing more photos of this concert, that photo album is on the same site as my SARS photo albums, and some photos from my California road trip that I recently posted...http://community.webshots.com/user/christinegaspar1

 

As far as my involvement with Cryonics goes, I became actively involved with the Cryonics Society of Canada, around November of 2002, when our group assisted with the suspension of a lady in Toronto. She was the first person from Toronto to ever undergo the process, and is now safely tucked away at the Cryonics Institute, in Michigan. We had the opportunity to meet this lady, three weeks before her deanimation, and I learned some valuable lessons about co-ordinating cryonics arrangements with palliative and home care medical professionals. For a better description of this experience, see Ben’s article:

http://www.benbest.com/cryonics/toronto.html

During the time I have been involved with the CSC, and namely with a sub-group of the CSC known simply as the "Toronto Local Group", I have watched a small, lesser organized group of cryonicists blossom into a larger, more cohesive unit, with a growing potential to assist Canadian cryonicists through the uncharted waters of cryonic suspension.

I’d like to hope that my involvement had some, albeit small influence on this, and I am honoured to know such an amazing group of people. In early 2003, while dealing with the craziness at work, I was elected to be the president of the CSC. I was surprised, and touched that our group would want me in that position, as I felt as though I had just arrived on the scene, and had the least experience out of everyone there, with cryonics and its development.

Me, Brent Erskine and the videographer for TKO, doing the cryonics interview, September 2003, in my apartment

As president, I did get the chance to do a speaking engagement, with others doing a panel type presentation to the Unitarian Church of Toronto. A journalist, Peter Walsh attended this presentation, from the CBC, who had intended on doing a story on cryonics, (although I didn’t hear much more from him after that). I also did a television interview for a show on Global Television Network called "TKO" which is aired primarily on Canada’s west coast, and is a 30 minute weekly show on what’s new in science and technology. They did send me a video of the episode I was featured on, and I can say that it turned out to be a positive, informative look at the basics of cryonics.

At least it wasn’t a bad start for someone who had never spoken publicly on the subject, or on behalf of cryonics.

I am not yet signed up with either Alcor or CI. I had great difficulty, last year, securing life insurance to finance my cryonics arrangements, due to the suddenly high risk work environment I was in (SARS again). Going back to last August (2003), just as my hospital announced its re-opening, Andrew and I broke up, ending a 10 year, mostly good relationship. This was a huge shock for me. It was at this time, after surviving the epidemic at work and the personal loss, that I decided I needed to make some real changes in my life, and decided, after all, that I wanted to do some travelling. I had never really put the idea of going to California completely to rest, and decided that there wasn’t going to be a better time to try it out. My only real regret from having made this move had been the physical distance I put between me and my family, and my friends at the CSC.

A shot of the CSC Christmas party at my place, December 2003.

I gave up my apartment in Toronto, after throwing a big CSC Christmas party. This party was attended by more than 25 people, some of who were completely new to our little group, and I’d like to think it was a big success.

I moved to my parent’s house at the end of January, then made my way (for the road trip from hell) to California, with

my sister and two cats in tow, on February 9th. 10 days, and 5000 km later, I took possession of an apartment in Huntington Beach, California, and started my new career as travel nurse. My sister stayed with me for about 6 weeks, and then I flew her home. I did a 13-week assignment, in an ER in Huntington Beach, then got a new contract to work where I am now, in Oceanside California, which is about half an hour north of San Diego. I flew home for a visit the third week of June, to attend my mother’s birthday. It was at this time that I had the opportunity to join my CSC friends at one of their monthly meetups, in a restaurant in Toronto. The photos of this, as well as previous get- togethers are posted on my webshots site: http://community.webshots.com/user/christine_csc

As for my plans, as continuing to be president of the CSC, well I guess that’s up to the group. I’m not really sure how long I am going to be in the US for. I realize that it isn’t very helpful to have a president that is so far away, but a lot of what we do is online.

For now, I am planning to stay in Oceanside until Christmas, but I am giving very serious consideration to moving closer to home once this contract is done.

If I do end up managing to get a job in the Northeastern US, I will take Rudy Matic’s example, and make frequent enough trips to Toronto to be an active presence with the CSC. Even though I do not regret making this move, I am finding myself very isolated from those that I care about, and cannot see being this far away from home forever.

Part of me feels that this trip was an effort to get as far away from the pain I experienced in Toronto as possible. Geographically, I think I succeeded in doing that, but time does indeed heal all kinds of wounds.

Before I left Toronto, I had a lot of ideas for the direction I saw the CSC going. I’d still like to follow through with some of these ideas, as I really believe that the CSC is a huge, untapped potential. Its members are diverse, intelligent and genuinely amazing people. I don’t want to see what they have accomplished or can accomplish go to waste. While I am in California, I want to try to finalize my own arrangements as soon as possible. That process is already underway, and hopefully very soon, I’ll be able to make myself a full-fledged participant. I recently met Peter Voss, in Los Angeles, who is a member of Alcor’s Southern California standby team. I’d like to get to know this group better, and learn from their valuable experiences. I’d also love to go to Arizona and meet the Alcor people. It is my hope that while I am in this part of the world, I can learn as much as possible from the wealth of experience Alcor has there.

At this point, I do want to clarify a point that I have sometimes read on Rick Potvin’s chat rooms, or on Cryonet. The CSC is not officially linked with CI. We are a group that contains Alcor and CI members. The fact that Ben Best was recently appointed to head CI is unrelated to CSC events or business.

When the CI member was suspended in Toronto, both CI and Alcor members of the CSC participated in facilitating her suspension. I think that this is one of the CSC’s many strengths- that it doesn’t take sides, and tries to support members of either organization. We ultimately have the same goal, and it would behoove any cryonicist to lend a hand where it is needed- our numbers are too small to squabble over semantics.

I hope that I was able to make this bio at least slightly entertaining. I’d like to thank John Bull for giving me the opportunity to share some of my life with you. I am pleased that some of you enjoy the fruits of my newest hobby- digital photography, and have enjoyed seeing some of the photos I captured of CSC social events.

I honestly hope that I can make a positive contribution, and hopefully help make it a little easier for us to achieve our ultimate goal.

Christine Gaspar,

President, Cryonics Society of Canada

Gary Tripp, me, and Rudy Matic at the June 2004 meetup