A Pictou County man who has suffered terrible personal loss has found a special way to thank those who helped his wife in her final months.

About 25 years ago, Robert Rogers’ wife Joyce was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a genetic condition that causes arteries and organs to rupture without warning. Her final attack came in December of 2011.

“Boxing Day that year, they gave her three months to live and Joyce, when she was told that, talking with her with the chaplain and so on, she said 'I’m going to fight this,' and she did,” says Rogers. “She fought for 22 months.”

Joyce never left the hospital and died in October 2013.

Tragedy struck again just eight months later when Rogers’ 39-year-old son Brian died.

“He had the same condition and it was very difficult for him, obviously, as he would come to visit her, in some weird way he would see himself in that same position,” Rogers says.

With his wife and son gone, Rogers decided to change the beneficiary on his insurance policy to the Aberdeen Health Foundation in recognition of the care Joyce received.

“Our health system is set up so that the hospital gets the bare necessities to make itself function, but I think we deserve to have more than the bare necessities,” Rogers tells CTV News. “We need some of the perks and bells and whistles if you will.”

The Aberdeen Health Foundation has been enhancing health care in Pictou County for 30 years. In that time, they’ve spent more than $20 million on advanced equipment and patient care.

Executive Director Susan Malcolm says they’re grateful for the people who leave money in their wills or insurance policies.

“The unfortunate part is that when we don’t know about it, we can’t honour the gift, we can’t thank the donor until, because we don’t know about it until well after they’re gone,” says Malcolm. “So the nice part is we’re able to thank Robert.”

Malcolm says what Rogers and others do by giving to the foundation is not provide a gift for today, but a gift for the future.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh.