Health + Activity

It was midnight on January 11, 2009, and in the surreal glow of the full moon, Sarah Doherty, her twin sister Susan Gabriel, her friend Ellen Clemence and I, Sarah’s partner, left Kibo Camp, which sits at an elevation of 15,600 feet, in an attempt to summit Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak. As if this were not challenging enough, Sarah was climbing the mountain with one leg. At age 13, she was sideswiped by a drunk driver while riding her bicycle. She lost her leg, but not her will to live a full and active life.   
May 2009

Good Fats Help You Burn Bad Fats! The general belief out there is that eating fat will make you fat, but that's just not true. Eating the right kinds of fats not only help you lose weight but also provide tons of other health benefits!   
By Joanne Smith
March 2009

Handcycling - Join me in this blog. If you are a person who also enjoys this wonderful sport   
By Tom Proszowski
February 2009

I encourage you to join this discussion forum and we may both learn from each other and inspire others to enjoy life to a greater degree.   
By Tom Proszowski
February 2009

As with many issues in the lives of people with disabilities, the health of our bones generally takes a back seat to the primary condition with which we must contend. This is understandable, given how demanding conditions like spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis and the like can be. But, it’s also dangerous, because osteoporosis — a decrease in bone quantity and quality — can mean serious damage, often without any signs until a fracture occurs.  
By Raymond D. Cohen
February 2009

While soccer for people with disabilities is not as prevalent in Canada as other adaptive sports, such as wheelchair basketball, rugby, curling and tennis, things are looking up.   
December 2008

At 21, Ashlee Dag is already a seasoned camper who’s racked up her fair share of black-fly bites and campfire tales. This summer, she’s gearing up for her 15th camping excursion with the Ontario March of Dimes (OMOD), a six-day experience that’s clearly the highlight of her year.   
By Carter Hammett
December 2008

The year 2007 turned out to be a not-so-pleasant one. Now, when asked about my amputation, I merely respond, “Bad year, that 2007.” In late January, the discovery of a bone tumour left me a below-the-knee, left side (LBK) amputee. My amputation and subsequent chemotherapy had me anxious that I wouldn’t ride my silver anniversary – my 25th year of riding.   
By Elizabeth Bokfi
December 2008

Canada is a hockey-crazy nation. Now, imagine our national pastime on...wheels? Electric-wheelchair hockey, also called power hockey, is a dynamic, fast-paced sport. Though it follows the same general structure as its ice-based cousin, electric-wheelchair hockey is played in gymnasiums. Teams have five players on the court at a time, wielding plastic sticks, with two distinct desires: have fun and score goals. Games last 45 minutes (three 15-minute periods). You can play in fall, winter and spring in cities across Canada and the United States.   
By Myles Estey
December 2008

After a few years of living with a chronic illness, I realized that I could not provide a new doctor with my critical health information – not from memory, anyway. I became very frustrated with filling out new “medical history” forms at each doctor’s office. I could not keep track of everything related to my illness, such as medication, tests and rehabilitation therapies.   
By Gloria Troyer
December 2008

When I entered university as a bright-eyed teen, I wanted to try lots of different things, and I was immediately drawn to the martial arts clubs on campus. The idea of combining my fascination with history and culture with keeping fit really appealed to me. Over the years, I participated in several forms of Japanese and Brazilian hand-to-hand combat.   
By Stephanie Green
November 2008

Jubilee Sailing Trust is a British charity that has enriched the lives of people with disabilities since 1977. Its fully accessible, three-masted ships, Lord Nelson and Tenacious, were designed to take on persons with disabilities as half of their hands-on crew, the only ships in the world with this purpose. Since her maiden voyage in 1986, Lord Nelson has taken over 9,000 people with disabilities to sea.   
By Jean Hartley
May 2008

Are you a woman with a disability? Have you considered getting the HPV vaccine? Human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections in North America – researchers believe that 75 percent of all sexually active Canadians will have an HPV infection at some point in their lives. In most cases, infections resolve on their own, but persistent cases in women can lead to cervical cancer, and HPV is the leading cause of this type of cancer. More than 1,300 Canadian women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year, and about 390 die from it.   
By Jaclyn Law
May 2008

If you're looking for a wheelchair sport that combines fast action and the great outdoors, tennis might be just what you’re looking for. Wheelchair tennis was started just over three decades ago. In January of 1976, 18-year-old American Brad Parks was injured while taking a warm-up jump in a skiing competition. The accident left him paraplegic.   
By Mary Syrett and Jaclyn Law
March 2008

When the mercury drops and a chill creeps into the air, many of us retreat indoors, determined to hibernate until the snow melts. That’s too bad, because there’s a host of exciting sports that can make winter a lot more fun. Why not try something new this year? Read on to learn about cold-weather adaptive sports and how to get started. Also, check out “Feel the Rush,” the Canadian Paralympic Committee’s campaign to get more Canadians involved in adaptive sports, at www.paralympic.ca/feeltherush/.   
By Jaclyn Law
December 2007

Being able to remember things is something most of us take for granted. We may get frustrated once in a while when we misplace our keys or forget to return a phone call, but in general we are confident about relying on our memory.   
By Gloria Troyer
December 2007

For years after much 1987 diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, I dreamed of going for a jog. I had been an avid runner, but my lack of strength, leg coordination and balance made jogging a distant memory. Instead, I took short strolls with my cane and later, a walker. Then, in 1998, I discovered a new way to indulge my love of running: deep-water jogging. Like many people with MS, I experience increased mobility in cool water (26-29°C).   
By Nancy Chamberlayne
December 2007

The wind blows through my hair and the sun warms my shoulders. I can taste cold saltwater on my lips and feel the bite of it splashing my face. The thrill of moving independently through the water in a 16-foot sailboat produces overwhelming sensations of joy and peace. But it was not always like this. Progressive MS (multiple sclerosis) has altered my abilities in relation to many things; most significant to me are outdoor recreational activities. For many years, I ran short and long distances, hiked in the wilderness, cross-country skied and canoed, and I keenly missed doing those things. I started looking for substitutes.  
By Linda McGowan
April 2007

I've been a dragon boat paddler since 1999. In itself, this is not unusual. Thousands of Canadians participate in this exciting sport. But I may be the only hemipelvectomy amputee dragon boater in Canada!  
By Mary Trafford
April 2007

The first time Laughie Rutt wheeled into the Lakeshore Curling Club in Lower Sackville, N.S., to try wheelchair curling, he was daunted by the length of the ice sheet and the weight of the granite rocks. "I've been in a wheelchair since I was really young, but I had never, ever been into a curling rink," says Rutt. "I looked down the ice and it looked about 10 miles long. I said, "These rocks are supposed to be heavy. I'm only a little guy; I'm not going to be able to do this.'"   
November 2006