A long time Drumheller resident, whose actions locally and nationally have received great praise in helping those who have lost their sight, was honoured with The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
    Crowfoot MP Kevin Sorenson presented Anne Michielin the honour on February 23 at the Continuing Care Unit of the Drumheller Health Centre. Michielin was presented the award in recognition for her work with the war blinded.
     “For more than six decades, Mrs. Michielin has dedicated herself to advocating on behalf of Canada’s war blinded. Until recently, she maintained close contact with the Sir Arthur Pearson Association of War Blinded (SAPA) members in Alberta and Saskatchewan. She has demonstrated strong leadership at the national level representing the needs of war blinded directly with the Department of Veterans Affairs Canada and through SAPA’s membership in the National Council of Veteran Associations," states the citation submitted by Laura Mayne of SAPA.
    Michielin, in previous years joked with The Mail that she married the first person she met when she visited Drumheller, where she raised a family and became a member of the community.
    Her path to Drumheller was not as straight as she describes however.
 In 2005 The Mail reported that Michielin was to be featured on a website called “Heroes Remember." In a series of interviews, she revealed her wartime experience.
    Michielin was born in Edmonton in 1923, was orphaned at age 5 and raised by a Catholic order. At 18, she was planning to enter the sisterhood but instead joined the Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC). She insisted the initials stood for “Cutest Women Across Canada.”
    This was the start of her military career. In 1942, she trained in Vermillion. She said the CWAC was organized to do tasks such as driving and clerical work to free up men to go overseas. She worked in the records department at Currie Barracks. She recalls that coming from being raised in a convent, the military was the most freedom she ever had.
    It was in 1943 on Christmas leave that she came to Drumheller and met her future husband Ido, who was in the RCAF.
    Michielin, according to the Heroes Remember website, was preparing to serve overseas in 1944 when she had a reaction to the vaccinations. She said that five of the other women had reactions to the shots or the gas they were administered. It affected her eyes, and while she continued with the CWAC, she was medically discharged on July 7 of that year.
    “It was heartbreaking for me,” she said in her interview for Heroes Remember, “…because I enjoyed my work and enjoyed the people I was with.”
    Following the war, she married and made a home in Drumheller. She has a son, Rick, and was an avid gardener. Despite her eyesight, she was an active member of the community, even helping as a Cub Scout leader.
    Almost immediately after the war, she became involved in SAPA. This organization was founded to rehabilitate soldiers who had been blinded.  From the beginning, it worked closely with the National Institute for the Blind in Britain and then the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB).  SAPA was active in lobbying and helping to formulate policies and procedures of Veterans Affairs and is a member of the National Council of Veterans Avocations.
    Michielin was elected president of the Alberta-Saskatchewan Chapter in the mid 1970s and in 1995 she was elected national president, a position she holds today. Her son Rick said she may be the last president of the association in Canada.
    She was previously awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal and in 2005 she was featured by Veterans Affairs Heroes Remember website.
    Rick said the presentation went well.
    “Kevin Sorenson did a good job,” he said.
    She was humble in her acceptance.
    “Who ever thought that little old Anne Michielin  would get this?” she asked at her presentation.
    This was the second presentation on that day. Earlier, Doug Wade also received the medal.

Legion members Bill Eremko (back left), Ed Laplante, and Bob Hannah joined MP Crowfoot Kevin Sorenson in presenting the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal to Anne Michielin (front).

    Recently, a former Drumheller resident shared her inspirational story of battling a rare auto-immune disease with The Drumheller Mail.
    Juanita Grande, 42, was born in Drumheller in 1970 to Sam and Doreen Grande. She was raised in Drumheller until 1978 at which time her family moved to Edmonton. Since then, she has lived in Vancouver, Japan, and now lives in Paris, France, working as a singer, songwriter, and voice-actress.
    Her aunt and uncle, Deborah and Serafino, and cousin,Sean, still reside in the Valley.
    On January 10, she was rushed to the emergency room with an alarming blood pressure of roughly 220/80. There it was discovered she was in acute renal (kidney) failure. She was then sent to a hospital specializing in Nephrology, where she stayed for two weeks connected to various intravenous solutions.
    In intense pain, the days following were filled by ultrasounds, CT scans, MRI’s, and blood and urine tests. Eventually, it was determined she was suffering from microscopic polyangitis, a rare disease in which her capillaries were being attacked by her own immune system.
  The disease can also target specific organs, such as the kidneys, heart, lungs, brain, sinuses, or teeth. In Grande’s case, her kidneys and joints were afflicted.
    After her release from the hospital, she was given nine different medications per day, chemo therapy, and a restricted diet.
    “I have to eat very specifically to offset the effects of the medication which means no salt, sugar, animal protein, saturated fat. Then I have to eat for renal health which is no potassium or phosphorous. There’s a plethora of things I cannot eat now,” said Grande. “It’s alright, because before I was a bit of a health nut. I didn’t have to make many changes.”
    There is one item she misses more than anything else.
    “I miss wine. I’m in France, come on. I haven’t touched it since New Year’s Eve, but it’ll come back. It’s just while I’m on chemo and heavy drugs, I want to give myself every chance to succeed,” said Grande.
    Prior to her fateful visit to the emergency room, she had experienced joint pain and intense migraines for years, but various doctors had dismissed her symptoms as not being serious.
    “The doctors didn’t take it seriously, because I was too young to have that much pain from osteoarthritis,” said Grande.
    However, Grande has been making the most of her life since returning from the hospital. To share her experiences and help others, she started a blog, “Juan Day at a Time.” In it, she describes her hospitalization, day to day life, and even recipes for those with the same affliction. Since she started, she has collected over 2,500 followers.
    “It’s doing pretty well. I’m getting more and more letters from people with the same disease asking how they can eat smarter and offset the effects of all the medications. By helping them, I’m also helping myself,” said Grande.
    “I had never thought that anyone would want to read what I have to say. It’s weird, you never think that way until something big happens. Since the first post, it just took off."
    Perhaps most importantly, through it all, she has remained positive.
    “Everything is just serendipitously working out. Maybe it’s because I’m handling it in a positive way and when you do that things work themselves out,” said Grande. “I can’t believe it, my life has never been better. There are so many people coming back into my life. Since I’ve been sick, I’ve been getting letters from all over the world and even got one from someone I went to Kindergarten with. It’s been a soul-lifting experience.”
    In the end, Grande has two pieces of advice for anyone.
    “Second-guess your doctors. If you have any concerns, get a second opinion. That was my big lesson, because I could have saved myself renal failure if only the doctors I saw had listened to me,” said Grande. “Another one would be to put the right food in the tank, because that’s the first step in fighting anything. If you eat badly, you’re kicking yourself.”
    To see her blog, click here.