Letter: Visitor grateful for CR hospitality

On May 31, my son Reid and I flew into Cedar Rapids. Reid was invited to tryout with the RoughRiders hockey team and I was along to see the country.

I was excited to visit Iowa as my Grandmother was born in 1903 in Burr Oak and I planned on taking a trip north to visit where she had immigrated from as a child.

On the way I started to experience stomach pains that became so severe that by midnight Thursday I drove myself to St. Luke's emergency department.

I was treated to friendly and efficient service from the moment I walked in and was diagnosed with appendicitis. I was operated on the next day and sprung free on Saturday.

During my stay I had many offers of help from nurses and the hockey team. RoughRiders Head Coach Mark Carlson called me to see how I was and followed up with a call when I returned.

The hockey team picked up some of my personal belongings and brought them to the hospital for me.

I have traveled to roughly half of the states in your union and am always treated well, but this was above and beyond and I wanted to give a heartfelt thank you to each and everyone of you.

I now know why my Grandmother was the genuine, loving and caring person she was, her roots tell the story.

Daryl Cooper

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada