It's been a long four years since Athens.  I was only 18 at the time having qualified for Team Canada on my birthday. For a moment during trials it seemed impossible that I would get a ticket to Athens, but it happened.  Two months later I packed my bags and entered the village, essentially being the "dark horse". Among the international athletes I was virtually unknown and I was able to use it as an advantage. No one expected I would be able to make the finals in the 800m, when I did, no one expected me to be in the front pack of racers and once I settled in the pack, no one thought I would have enough to finish the race. While I didn't gain a position in the final 200m, I didn't lose any, making my way to the finish line in third place. It's a very vivid memory, I remember every turn, bump, the tunnel vision I had through the line and the glory of being on the podium.

A lot has happened since that race four years ago.... a lot. Some things were simple; I continued racing, no longer considered an unknown athlete but a potential medalist.  I finished high school, having taken 5 years instead of 4, so I could train and compete in Athens. I started at the University of Windsor in the Biochemistry program.  All things were well and running smooth. 

Being an athlete I'm used to accepting a challenge and working hard, but 2006 gave me a whole new perspective, erased everything I worked for at this point and sent me right back to square-one and perhaps even further. In late 2005 I was diagnosed with Tethered Cord, essentially my spinal cord was tangled in tissue/bone/muscle and being abnormally stretched. It's not uncommon among those with Spina Bifida and it's treatment is surgery to stop any progression of paralysis. The surgery wasn't the most successful, having not completely served it's purpose of 'untangling' the nerves in my back.  I was able to walk before the surgery, not well but able, afterwards I lost what use I did have of my legs. Not world ending, in fact I didn't really care, sure somethings changed but I wasn't running marathons before and if I never do, I'll live. The complications that followed were the problems that stoped my racing career and took 6 more evasive surgeries to fix, a total of 146 days in hospital over the next year, with 13 weeks being the longest stretch.  It was a unique circumstance, new to doctors and what I guess could be considered standard procedures never took. My neurologist finally came up with a different idea to try and it worked, I was released 3 days before Halloween, 10 months after the first surgery. 

Unfortunately it was anything but a quick recovery. I ended up back in the hospital several times for weeks over the next 3 months dealing with chronic nerve pain and some very dangerous infections.  The only way the doctors could help me deal with the pain was heavy narcotics, that I ablsolutely hated. It was extremely hard to get through a normal day and I was a long way away from being able to train.  With no other ideas, I tried a more natural approach, Acupuncture, with amazing results. I was skeptical, I'm STILL skeptical, but all I know is the pain became tolerable and I was able to jump in my racing chair after over a year.

I wasn't expecting much the first time I got back in my chair in March of 2007, but it was worse than I expected. A racing chair is a tight fit, it's purpose isn't to be comfortable, it's purpose is to be aerodynamic and fast. I manged 10 minutes before having to get out. I was fairly angry, I wanted to train desperately, not just to be competitive, but to get back to the life I missed.  It took awhile, but eventually it came back, not nearly to the capacity I had before, but I was able to start training again. I packed my bags and went down to Florida with a friend, away from everything, just training. It was nice and when I came home in May, things were finally on a trend of getting better.

So here I am, one and half years later, heading to Beijing on my second Paralympic Team.  I thought Athens seemed impossible, it doesn`t even compare.  Ì put 4 years of work into Athens and I started from a good place, I put a year and a half of insane work into Beijing and I started well behind the line.

It`s very simple, I`m happy to be here, very happy to be racing and unbelievable blessed to be heading to China. I have no idea what to expect, I`ll just wait and find out.

Take care,
Yours in Sport,