多伦多病童医院想尽办法救活婴儿玛丽安的故事说明微信中的许多有关加拿大华人新移民的内容是胡说八道（观点，中英对照）
一批微信视频近期正日益风靡中文社交媒体，即是加拿大正在走下坡路，鼓励移民加国的大陆人士"回流"，这些视频将加拿大描绘成一个基础设施破败、科技落后、经济高度依赖美国的国家。面对中国城市的高楼林立和飞驰的高铁，他们不仅质问：“国内样样都好于加拿大，为什么还要留在这个国家？”
On Chinese-language social media, especially WeChat, a narrative has been gaining ground: that Canada is in decline. Videos that go viral among return-migrant circles often portray the country as a land of crumbling infrastructure, sluggish technology, and a dependent economy too tethered to its American neighbour. They show gleaming Chinese megacities and fast trains and ask, “Why stay in Canada when everything’s better back home?”
但这些视频往往没看到加拿大的真正价值所在，就拿婴儿玛丽安（Maryam）的故事来说吧。
But these portrayals often miss what truly defines a nation’s strength.Take the story of baby Maryam.
出生在多伦多的玛丽安父母是一对来自印度的新移民夫妇。不幸的她在出生后几分钟就出现了第一次癫痫发作，并不久被诊断出一种罕见的大脑疾病，使她左半边脑部神经元不断发送异常信号而导致癫痫，每天发作高大多达数百次，让婴儿玛丽安痛苦不已。多伦多病童医院（SickKids）的医生想尽了一切办法救治，但由于她年纪太小，一切手段无济于事。玛丽安被转入临终关怀病房，医生告诉她的父母要为最坏的结果做准备。
Born in Toronto to a newcomer couple from India, Maryam had her first seizure minutes after birth. Diagnosed with a rare brain disorder that made one hemisphere of her brain misfire uncontrollably, she suffered hundreds of seizures a day and was in excruciating pain. Doctors at SickKids Hospital did everything they could to save the infant — but her young age made further treatment impossible at the time. She was moved to palliative care. Her parents were told to prepare for her death.
但生命力顽强的玛丽安却顽强地挣扎着，她的医生团队也不肯放弃。
But Maryam kept breathing. She kept fighting. And so did her care team.
多伦多病童医院（SickKids）的医生决定铤而走险，为年幼而脆弱的玛丽安安排了一项极具高风险且极为高难度的手术，可以说 这在整个人类医学史上堪称史无前例。 治疗过程包括一系列精准诱导的小型中风手术，旨在逐步关闭她大脑中那左半边功能紊乱、频繁异常放电的区域。鉴于婴儿大脑惊人可塑性，随着她年龄的增长，健康的右脑将逐渐适应并接管部分原本由左脑执行的功能。
In an unprecedented decision, doctors at SickKids performed a high-risk and extraordinarily sophisticated procedure — one never before attempted in human history on an infant as small and fragile as Maryam. The treatment involved a series of carefully induced mini-strokes, designed to shut down the malfunctioning half of her brain. As she grows, her healthy right hemisphere is expected to adapt and gradually take over the functions lost — a powerful testament to the remarkable plasticity of the infant brain.
脑科手术医生通过将微导管穿过她细如发丝的血管，将微小的塑料微球注入其中，阻断血液流向她左脑中异常区域。一系列极为成功的手术逐步让那部分导致玛丽安持续癫痫发作的大脑区域静默并坏死。
Using microcatheters threaded through her delicate blood vessels, the neurointervention team injected microscopic plastic beads to block blood flow — precisely targeting the abnormal areas in her left hemisphere. The procedures were highly successful, gradually silencing the part of her brain that had been triggering relentless seizures.
支撑这个大胆的决定，有一个始终不变的信念：每一个生命，哪怕是一个来自新移民家庭的虚弱无助的初生婴儿，都应不惜一切代价获得生的希望。
At the heart of this bold decision was one unshakable belief: that every life — even that of a fragile newborn from a newcomer family — deserves a fighting chance.
今天的玛丽安是个快乐的小女孩。她依然面临发育方面的挑战，但她会笑、会拍手，正在一点一滴地进步。病童医院（SickKids）的成功不仅是一项医学成就，更是全球领先的人类同情关怀价值观与尖端医疗相结合的重大突破。
Today, Maryam is a joyful toddler. She still faces developmental challenges, but she is smiling, clapping, and steadily progressing. SickKids’ success is more than a medical achievement — it is a world-class breakthrough in compassionate, cutting-edge care.
在实行私人医疗制度的国家，像这样由脑科医生、外科医生和护理专家共同参与的首创手术，费用可能高达数百万美元。而在并非以盈利为导向，而是以医疗需求为核心宗旨的加拿大，像玛丽安这类手术及治疗费用得以全额公费，使像她这样的新移民家庭得以享受到国际一流的医疗服务。
In countries with private healthcare systems, experimental procedures involving neurologists, surgeons, and nurse practitioners could cost millions. But in Canada, where care is guided not by financial incentive but by medical need, Maryam’s treatment was fully covered — giving immigrant families like hers access to the very best care the system has to offer.
诚然，加拿大不会在一个月内建起摩天大楼，也无法在一夜之间打造出全新的科技生态系统。但它所缓缓而默默地建设的往往是一种坚实的社会体系：一个不仅包容新移民，更真正重视他们的社会，其确保一个工薪阶层移民家庭出生的女婴，依然能够享有与任何人同等的尖端医疗服务。
It’s true that Canada doesn’t build skyscrapers in a month or roll out new tech ecosystems overnight. But what it does build — painstakingly, and often quietly — is a society where newcomers are not just tolerated, but valued. A baby girl born to working-class immigrants is given the same access to cutting-edge care as anyone else.
在当今时代，物质增长以及建设速度往往被过度追捧，而对道德的坚守却常被忽视，尤其是对那些频繁地穿梭于两个国家之间但却看不清社会真相的移民来说更是如此。玛丽安的经历像我们清晰地展示了加拿大这个国家能向其臣民提供的到底是什么。
The temptation to glorify material speed over moral substance is strong, especially for migrants who feel caught between two worlds. But stories like Maryam’s remind us what kind of country Canada strives to be — and often is.
在全球政治日益动荡、民族主义在其他国家愈加抬头的当下，加拿大所拥有的“软实力”比以往任何时候都更显示出其优势。它意味着：哪怕是一个在其他地方会被抛弃婴儿，加拿大以其坚韧的意志和国际一流的医疗技术将她从死亡线上救回来。
As global politics grow more uncertain and nationalism tightens its grip elsewhere, Canada’s soft strengths matter more than ever. They mean fighting for the life of a child who, in another place, might have been forgotten — and having the capacity to save her
一位其妻子在加国做过大手术的大陆移民黄先生曾表示："你只有经历了生死攸关的大病时，才能体会到加拿大医疗系统和其社会的强大优势。"
“Only when you’ve experienced a life-threatening illness can you truly feel the outpouring of care within Canada’s healthcare and social system,” said Mr. Huang, a newcomer from China whose wife underwent a major surgery in Toronto.
如果您有加国医疗系统的类似经历，欢迎您分享。
If you’ve had a similar experience with Canada’s healthcare system, feel free to share your story.
