‘If you’re stressed out…and you need to talk to someone. My door is always open,’ says Brian Ditchburn, who has a glass-blowing lab at UBC’s Department of Chemistry.
UBC glass-blower Brian Ditchburn remembers his daughter Kaelin as a bright, bubbly girl her brother lovingly called “Kay-Kay.”
Recommended Videos
Shortly before her eighth birthday, Kaelin died in her sleep at home after many long visits to B.C. Children’s Hospital to treat her seizure disorder.
A decade later, Ditchburn still thinks about how kind and caring the hospital staff were to him and his wife during a time of deep despair.
It’s grief that never leaves a person.
“She had a really good day. She was out in the sun. She was in her little pool, chasing the dog around,” he recalled.
“We were told she could die but we were never really prepared for it. I gave my kids kisses every night telling them I love them. And that’s probably what saved my sanity, because I know that when she went to sleep, the last thing she heard was, ‘I love you.’”
Kaelin loved her big brother Ewan and would chase after him, he said.
“She used to skip out of her class to go find her brother running around the school. They loved each other. They were best friends.”
And she was so brave at the hospital, he said. Although she struggled with developmental delays, Ditchburn said his daughter was a sweetheart, who despite all the challenges she was going through never had a grumpy moment. She always had a smile for the nurses.
Holding on tight to his memories of Kaelin, Ditchburn decided to start making beaker mugs as a thank you gift for the nurses and staff.
“There was always someone available to talk to if I or my wife needed help. Just because my daughter passed, it doesn’t mean that they stopped giving us support because they helped with a lot. They were all so amazing,” he said.
Now he sells the mugs to raise money for the hospital. He also gives the hospital part of his paycheque every month and donates to the Surrey Centre for Child Development, where Kaelin also spent time.
He mainly sells them through word of mouth at UBC. He tries to keep a few in stock, but the charity work is a side job he does in his spare time.
Ditchburn’s full-time gig is what he describes as “the best job on campus,” at his glass-blowing lab at UBC’s Department of Chemistry, where he makes and repairs glassware crucial to scientific experiments.
He started out making neon glass with his father and then switched into scientific glass-blowing as a career. He’s been at the glass-blowing lab at UBC for 25 years.
He also offers glass-blowing lessons as a prize for the chemistry student organization’s end-of-year charity raffle. The winner learns how to make icicle ornaments they can give as gifts.
Ditchburn knows what it’s like to be stressed out, especially at this time of year, and said he wants to be resource for people in need.
He offers destructive therapy for stressed-out students. Under strict safety protocols, the students can throw unsalvageable glass lab equipment on the ground.
“If you’re stressed out or feeling sad or have something running through your head and you need to talk to someone. My door is always open. I can listen. I have a really bad memory, so I might not remember everything we talked about, but I’m here.”