In 1980, pediatrician-hematologist Dr Yvette Bonny performed the first bone marrow transplant in Quebec in a child. She went on to perform approximately 200 during her career, giving hope to sick children and their families.
Haitian by birth, Yvette Bonny earned her medical degree at the Faculty of Medicine of Haiti. After arriving in Canada in 1962, she dedicated most of her career to research and to treating children suffering from leukemia, cancer, and sickle cell anemia.
When Yvette Bonny arrived in Canada from Haiti in the 1960s, it was rare to see a woman from a visible minority group become established as a doctor; she became a role model within the Haitian community and for young Black women in Quebec.
From 1980 to 1998, Dr Bonny was responsible for the provincial pediatric marrow transplant unit at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital and performed all bone marrow transplants for Quebec children. In that hospital, she earned the nickname of Patch Adams, after the American doctor whose famous approach to patients was based on compassion and humour.
Dr Bonny also taught at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Montreal, where her commitment to research and education earned her several awards and distinctions. The University named her hematologist of the year in 1996, professor of the year in 1999-2000, and physician of merit for the past 20 years in 2000.
She is a knight of the National Order of Québec and in 2008, she was named a member of the Order of Canada for her great humanism, extraordinary dedication and unwavering determination.
Now retired, Dr. Bonny remains active in the service of health and young people in the Haitian, Quebec and Canadian communities.