I graduated from Durham College in 1983 in Sports Administration. I was awarded the honour of being named Male Athlete of the Year. This included winning the Provincial Basketball Championships in O.C.A.A. Tier 2; being named to the Championship Tournament All Star team; and capturing a bronze medal at the Provincial Touch Football Championship Tournament. Immediately following graduation I was employed at a popular Racquet and Fitness Centre in Mississauga as the Racquet
On June 25, 1986, while at work, I fell 20 feet and fractured both sides of my skull and was in a coma for three weeks. According to the doctors there was little hope for recovery. I was given less than a 2% chance of making it out of the operating room, never mind ever walking or talking again. Upon awakening I was placed into a rehabilitation program where I received speech, occupational and physiotherapy. My first recollection of being awake was I could only turn my head to the left. The rest of my body was totally paralysed. I had to be lifted in and out of my bed and wheelchair, as I could not do it myself.
After several weeks of therapy I was able to walk under my own power, much to the surprise of the doctors and therapists. They could not believe I had progressed to this point so quickly.
In 1987, a fellow classmate who worked at the office of Sport for Disabled Ontario asked if I were interested in taking part in sports again. I had a tough enough time trying to walk so I declined. In 1988 I decided to give it a try with the hopes of improving my coordination and increasing my stamina. In case you are wondering, Sport for Disabled is different from the Special Olympics. Sport for Disabled is for athletes who have a physical disability. There are four major disability groups: i) wheelchair ii) amputee iii) blind/visually impaired iv) cerebral palsy.
In 1991 the Barcelona Paralympic Organizing Committee invited me to take part in their “Test Meet” in Barcelona, Spain. I ran in the 200m and 400m events, winning gold in both and setting a world record in 400m.
The Paralympics are the Olympics for the Physically Disabled. They occur every four years in the same city as the Olympics. We use the same venues, eating facilities and dormitories as the Olympics. The Paralympics are usually held two weeks after the Summer/Winter Olympics are completed. At the 1992 IX Summer Paralympics I competed in three sprint events: 100m, 200m and 400m. I won three gold medals plus set two new world and paralympic records and a Canadian record. In 1993 at the Robin Hood Games (World Championships for Cerebral Palsy) which were held in Nottingham, England, I competed in the 100m and 200m sprint events in which I won gold medals in both.
The 1994 World Disabled Athletics Championships were held in Berlin, Germany. This championship was not as fruitful for I was unable to attend any of the practice sessions as my back flared up as it did not adjust properly to the mattress I was sleeping on. After many physiotherapy and acupuncture treatments it responded well enough to allow me to compete in the 100m semi final. I was happy just to be able to compete in the event and finished second with a time of 12:23 seconds. The next day featured the 100m final race. I had a fairly good start, at about the midway point I felt a sharp pain in my right hamstring and as I continued to push towards the finish line I tore my hamstring and was out of competition. In that race I finished 7th with a time of 12:70 seconds.
For the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics I participated in only one event, shot put. My hamstring did not heal to the point where I could train as hard as I wished. Then on May 13 I suffered a tonic clonic seizure and this really made a mess of my training. I learned to throw the shot put in just under four weeks and placed fourth at the Paralympics and threw a personal best of 11.07 meters.
I held the World Record in the 200m for eight years and the Paralympic Record for three Games. I also held the World Record in 400m for five years and the Paralympic Record for four years and two Paralympic Games.
On November 17, 1998 I was inducted into the Terry Fox Hall of Fame (now called the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame). In September 1999 I came out of retirement again. The Czech Republic Cerebral Palsy Sports Association invited me to take part in the opening of a brand new athletic centre in Turnov, Czech Republic. I was asked to be part of the field throwing triathlon. I was required to throw the shot put, discus and javelin. At first I declined but after speaking with the organizing committee they still wanted me to compete. I told them the last time I threw the shot put was in the Atlanta Paralympics in 1996, the last time I threw the javelin was in 1989 and I never threw the discus. I went to the Czech Republic with less than three weeks of practice. Not much was expected due to the lack of practice time and the rest of the throwing field had been training for the past three years. I finished fourth in shot put, seventh in javelin and eighth in discus. In August of 2004, I was asked to come out of retirement, yet again, to help build the soccer program for the Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports with the goal of qualifying for the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China.
On February 5, 2010, I was awarded The King Clancy Award. On March 10, 2011, I was inducted into the Durham College Sports Hall of Fame. I was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012). On July 4, 2015 I took part in the Pan Am Torch relay. The Brain Injury Society of Toronto awarded myself as Volunteer of the Year 2016.
Something I would like people to know: Recovery is a tough, bumpy road. And I’m slow, but I’m not stupid.
