This column is about a number of different Neighbourhood Heroes.

First my recent surgery at NRGH has led me to discover a whole new category of Neighbourhood Heroes for me, women who have had children by Caesarean Section and bounce right back into action after a few days.

Assuming a Caesarean Section hurts as much as the abdominal surgery I have just gone through, I can assure you that if men bore our children, we would not have a population problem in this world.

Another category of Neighbourhood Heroes I rediscovered during hospital visit is those who maintain our medical system and all who work in it.

Obviously something needs to be done in such areas as hip and knee replacement but having had previous surgeries to repair a faulty genetically inherited aortic valve as well as a genetically inherited abdominal aortic aneurysm, I can tell you that the system served me extraordinarily well both times.

My mother had to have surgery while my father was serving overseas during the Second World War. I can remember that it took them five years to recover financially after my dad returned home.

I am so thankful for our current Canadian Medicare System.

Fifteen months ago NRGH created what they call the Surgical Step Down Unit with three beds in a room and 24/7 nursing care. I definitely appreciated that special care during the first couple of days after surgery.

One morning when I woke up, I noticed that a woman had been brought into the unit while I was sleeping. Obviously she had had a very bad night, and she was still in great pain.

Soon after that her closest female friend came in and quietly sat beside her bed for the rest of the morning simply holding her hand and occasionally exchanging a smile or a few words. That's all.

By noon the patient had improved unbelievably and I suspect that the simple act of having her hand held played a major role in that improvement.

It's too bad, I thought, that more men wouldn't feel comfortable holding a male friend's hand at such a time, and then I thought perhaps we would be more comfortable sitting with a hand on our friend's shoulder. I know that's what I will do the first chance I have.

Just a simple touch, it’s the kind of thing Neighbourhood Heroes do.

Finally the school-based project that has spun off this column is called the Hidden Heroes Project.

When I returned from the hospital I found a definite hidden Neighbourhood Hero.

A few weeks ago I noticed that someone had hit my back fence and broken three or four boards.

Last spring something similar happened at the other end of my fence but that time the man who did it left a note and returned on the weekend to repair the damage. I was a little surprised and disappointed that the same thing hadn't happened this time but I didn't think much more about it since I planned on painting the fence in the spring anyway and the repairs would be minor.

The first morning after I got home, I struggled out of bed, opened the blinds and immediately saw my fence. I couldn't miss it. Not only had the damaged boards been repaired but the entire fence had been pained.

I love doing this column because it gives me a soapbox from which I can recognize Neighbourhood Heroes, ordinary people doing small things that make a big difference.

I hope in the process, I encourage you to more frequently notice and acknowledge the Neighbourhood Heroes in your life. Sadly we somehow seem to have been trained to overlook them, but I guarantee once you begin to notice, you'll find them everywhere.