Drumheller's Scott Ouellette became a heart transplant recipient at the age of 28.

    A local man who is alive today thanks to a heart transplant continues to share his story in hopes that others too will be able to live.
    Scott Ouellette, manager at Acklands Grainger in Drumheller, shared his story with The Mail in July of 2013. In the spring of 2008, at 28 years of age he was living in Red Deer. One evening he began having chest pains playing ball hockey. He finished his game,   but late at night he was rushed by ambulance to the hospital. He was airlifted by STARS to Calgary. 113 days later, he received a donated heart.
    It is an understatement that this was a life changing experience, and since then, he has lent his name and experience to making a difference.
    This month there is a good chance you will see him on TV as part of the campaign for the Alberta Heart and Stroke Foundation Lottery. He is one of  “The Pictures of Real Winners.”
    Ouellette was in Toronto to shoot the spot in early September and last week the commercial began regular rotation. He and his story are also featured on the website.
    “They asked me to do this and I was more than happy to do it. There is a little blurb and my story in the flyer that went out to almost every household and the bottom of very ticket sold has a little blurb about my story as well,” said Ouellette.
    “For myself, being so open and honest is always positive. People I talk to; number one, are amazed that it happened to me, and number two, start to think about organ donation. It is all about awareness and getting the word out that it saves lives.
    The Alberta Heart and Stroke Foundation plays a key role in supporting patients like Ouellette.   
    “Heart transplants have only been around since the 1970s and three decades later the hearts are the easy ones to do because they have been doing them the longest, it is amazing what they have done,” said Ouellette.
    He says they have been making great strides in extending the time between when a heart is donated and when used for transplant.
    “When I was waiting for a transplant, they couldn’t go much further than Ontario or they wouldn’t make it back with a usable heart.
    According to its website the Heart and Stroke Foundation helped create 165,000 survivors, and it has committed $300 million to research over the next decade.
    “Mainly they fund research. The doctor that installed the heart machine on me while I was waiting for a transplant, most of his career has been funded by the Heart and Stroke Foundation,” said Ouellette. “It goes to doctors and teams to work on how to keep people alive longer, not only after heart attacks or strokes, but also keeping people alive when heart attacks and stokes happen."
    To learn more about the fall campaign go to heartandstroke.ab.ca

Drumheller's housing crunch comes in three areas: a  lack of affordable family homes,

a lack of starter homes, and a lack of retirement homes.

    Local realtors have had a busy year, with home sales in the Drumheller area for 2014 ahead of home sales for the same period last year. Numbers from the Realtors Association of South Central Alberta show the 2013 annual sales for the area were reached this year in October.
    For the Town of Drumheller, September’s urban sales were 14, which brought the year-to-date total up to 98 houses, with an average price of $245,471. This brought an increase of 3.1% over this time last year.
    Rural Drumheller saw 2 September sales, bringing the year’s total to that point to 24 sales, with an average price of $172,658.
    “I think what’s happened is we had a couple of slower years before this,” said Realtor Don Rosgen, “and I think it’s simply pent up demand. This year we’ve had more listings and more sales, I don’t think it’s because we’ve had much new industry come into Drumheller, it’s just typical ebb and flow of the market.”
    Rosgen said pent up demand occurs over a couple of years where the real estate isn’t moving naturally, such as when people are downsizing or looking to buy a family home. He said one of the reasons for the slower times could be attributed to potential homeowners watching the market and waiting for a better time to buy.
    “I get a lot of people looking to downsize, they have large family homes,” said local Realtor Stacey Gallagher.
    “So they want the same as what they have, but less stairs, maybe a little bit less square footage. And to maybe take some equity out of their house.”
    Gallagher said this is difficult because there isn’t a lot of retirement homes on the market. Both realtors say the area has a shortage of affordable family homes. In Drumheller, an affordable home would seem to be in the $200,000 to under $250,000 price range, three-bedroom bungalow with a garage.
    After a steady fall, the local real estate market is now heading into its typical slower-paced sales period.
    “Often times, people will take their houses off the market come winter, because they don’t want to move, or Christmas is coming. Or they don’t want them vacant for the winter, so they’ll rent them out,” said Gallagher.
    Sales will start picking up again in the spring, and when they do, local realtors are positive for the coming year.
    “I thinks it’s going to be steady,“ said Rosgen of 2015. “We’ve been very busy here, and it’s just been a great year for us, it’s been really busy into the fall now. We expect it to slow down of course, seasonally over Christmas. I don’t know why it wouldn’t be as good next year.”