By Clare Ogilvie
Canada’s armed forces are the
newest addition to the arsenal the country is putting together to win medals at
the 2010 Paralympic Games.
The Department of National
Defence is partnering with the Canadian Paralympic Committee in a program
called Soldier On to help members of the military wounded in action, on the
job, or otherwise, use sport to get better and even help them become elite
athletes.
“… I would think there is a good
chance that we will probably produce some very good athletes,” said Lt Col
Gerry Blais, director of casualty support for the Canadian Forces.
He pointed to the high level of
fitness, sense of duty and drive that most career CF members have as strong
assets for anyone hoping to become a Paralympian.
But he also emphasized that the
partnership is a way to help Canadians deal with a life-changing trauma.
“The ultimate aim is to promote
healthy lifestyle and show (them) that their life isn’t over because they have
undergone an amputation or have a spinal cord injury or something of that
nature,” said Blais from his Ottawa office.
Cpl. Jesse Melnyck lost his
right eye last August when he was shot in the head while serving in
Afghanistan. It was the third tour of duty for the 25-year-old signal operator,
now based at CFB Pettawawa.
“I really do believe in service
to the nation, that is who I am,” said Melnyck explaining why he wants to get
involved with the program. He also wants to learn from people who have been
living with a disability for years what it is like in the long term.
“I think military members will
see this as a challenge and they will want to be involved. They want people to
see they are not broken.”
Sgt. Karen McCoy, an aviation
technician at CFB Gagetown, has always dreamt of running in the Olympics and
now hopes to be involved in the Paralympics through the Soldier On program.
“It is a dream for me to run,”
said the mother-of two who lost her leg to cancer two years ago.
“I don’t give up. My kids would
love to see that, and I would love to do it for other people in the service to
show them that you don’t give up.”
She hopes she can be an
inspiration to others who acquire disabilities and show them how sport can help
you re-learn that anything is possible.
Both plan to attend a summit on
the Soldier On program this May in Ottawa to find out more. It is being funded
by the Department of Defence, which is working to find out how much interest
there might be in the program.
While it is early days yet in
the planning it’s likely the defence department would give the CPC a grant
which would be used to fund training and programs for military personnel who
might become part of the program.
It’s a win-win situation said
Brain MacPherson, chief operating officer for the CPC.
“It is channeling their energy
instead of on the battlefield on the field of play,” he said adding that the
program takes the CPC back to the roots of the Paralympics, which were born out
of the desire to help veterans.
“There is no downside to this
whatsoever.”
Since Canada started its mission
in Afghanistan in 2001 about 328 CF members have acquired a disability.
Annually about another 20 are disabled in some way while serving.
Part of the impetus for Canada
to get the program up and running is the existence of a similar one operating
in the U.S., which said MacPherson, has a pool of about 20,000 soldiers to draw
upon.
“The (U.S. is) doing that exact
thing, recruiting those otherwise young, mentally and physically fit soldiers
who now have a disability to become their talent pool for Paralympic athletes.
“There is no guarantee of this,
but what they are betting on down there is a full 10 per cent of the U.S.
Paralympic team going to Beijing for the (2008) Summer Games will be those
soldiers who got injured in Iraq.”
John Register, the associate
director of outreach and development for the U.S. Olympic Committee’s
Paralympic Division pushed for the development of the USOC’s Paralympic Military
program, which shows military personnel the powerful role that sports can play
in rehabilitation.
A Gulf War veteran and a two
time Paralympian himself, Register, who became an amputee in a sports accident,
is hopeful that there will be athletes with disabilities from this program at
both the 2008 Summer Games and the 2010 Games.
“It is tremendously exciting,”
he said, adding that standing on the podium with the Stars and Stripes flying
is a profound experience for military personnel who see the flag as a symbol of
freedom and sacrifice.
Register said the chance for
military personnel with disabilities to take up old activities or try new
sports can give back a sense of independence too.
“They go from able bodied, to
blown up, to in the hospital, to trying to figure out what you are doing now
and where your life is heading, to say someone taking you on the slopes.
“(There) you get the feeling of
freedom again and by the end of the day you are doing it by yourself, and you
say, ‘what else can I do?’”
The Canadian program is great
news for sit skier Josh Dueck who is training to compete at the 2010 Games.
“I think this is a great idea,”
he said from Vernon.
“I believe the work ethic and
moral that these individuals from the military can bring into sport is huge….
They have gone through all this strenuous training in order to prepare
themselves to go to battle.
“I have had the opportunity to
ski with some people injured at war and they are phenomenal athletes and ski
racing to them is not intimidating… these guys have been shot at so they say,
‘What, all I am going to get is a face full of snow.’
“Not only is this going to help
rehabilitate them and give them new goals to strive for and take their
attention away from the disability at hand, they are going to bring a huge
amount to the Paralympic community as a whole.”
