my story
in the early evening of july 26th, 1977, i took the proverbial deep dive into a shallow pool.
i didn’t mean to dive deep; i meant to dive shallow, but unfortunately i didn’t dive shallow enough, and the top of my head crushed into the hard cement bottom of my friend’s pool.
in that instant i thought that i’d broken my jaw, but as i tried to reach for my chin, i realized that i couldn’t move my arms or my legs.
fortunately, i had been swimming with two good buddies who quickly came to my rescue, and to their credit they gently and precisely floated me to the side of the pool and up onto the deck. an ambulance arrived in minutes, and i was wisked sirens wailing, to the trauma unit at sunnybrook hospital in toronto.
eventually, i was transfered to lyndhurst rehabilitation hospital ( toronto ), where i worked my butt off for 15 grueling months, doing intense physiotherapy and rehab, and although my recovery was good, it was not complete. i was faced at age 19, with the daunting task of living my life in a wheelchair, and trying to cope with the daily challenges of quadriplegia.
i resolved to move forward with my life to the best of my ability, and with much blood, sweat and tears, and the wonderful support of family and friends, i have never looked back, and have in fact thrived, and carved out a happy, rewarding, and successful personal and professional life over the past 32 years.
my paintings have been exhibited around the world, including toronto, montreal, new york and paris, and have received numerous awards including the prestigous “prix speciale rene huyge”, from the louvre museum, paris, 1985.
i have sipped champgne at the new york city gallery opening of my work, and cut the ribbon unveiling a 22 foot mural commission at variety village in scarborough, ontario.
i have used my talents to create benefit for others; my very special christmas cards, have raised more than $100,000 for various worthwhile charities over the past 16 years, and i have donated many pieces to fundraising auctions during my career.
on a musical note, i have been writing and recording original songs with morrrison hawkes, for the past 25 years. in 2011 we began performing live, and released a christmas CD which garnered good airplay across ontario and raised money for the
canadian centre for abuse awareness.
over the years i have also worked very hard to achieve and maintain a full and active lifestyle. i live on my own. i cook. i drive. iwork out regularly.
after overcoming so many obstacles over the years, and acheiving a good measure of success, i look forward with confidence, to the future.
i didn’t mean to dive deep; i meant to dive shallow, but unfortunately i didn’t dive shallow enough, and the top of my head crushed into the hard cement bottom of my friend’s pool.
in that instant i thought that i’d broken my jaw, but as i tried to reach for my chin, i realized that i couldn’t move my arms or my legs.
fortunately, i had been swimming with two good buddies who quickly came to my rescue, and to their credit they gently and precisely floated me to the side of the pool and up onto the deck. an ambulance arrived in minutes, and i was wisked sirens wailing, to the trauma unit at sunnybrook hospital in toronto.
eventually, i was transfered to lyndhurst rehabilitation hospital ( toronto ), where i worked my butt off for 15 grueling months, doing intense physiotherapy and rehab, and although my recovery was good, it was not complete. i was faced at age 19, with the daunting task of living my life in a wheelchair, and trying to cope with the daily challenges of quadriplegia.
i resolved to move forward with my life to the best of my ability, and with much blood, sweat and tears, and the wonderful support of family and friends, i have never looked back, and have in fact thrived, and carved out a happy, rewarding, and successful personal and professional life over the past 32 years.
my paintings have been exhibited around the world, including toronto, montreal, new york and paris, and have received numerous awards including the prestigous “prix speciale rene huyge”, from the louvre museum, paris, 1985.
i have sipped champgne at the new york city gallery opening of my work, and cut the ribbon unveiling a 22 foot mural commission at variety village in scarborough, ontario.
i have used my talents to create benefit for others; my very special christmas cards, have raised more than $100,000 for various worthwhile charities over the past 16 years, and i have donated many pieces to fundraising auctions during my career.
on a musical note, i have been writing and recording original songs with morrrison hawkes, for the past 25 years. in 2011 we began performing live, and released a christmas CD which garnered good airplay across ontario and raised money for the
canadian centre for abuse awareness.
over the years i have also worked very hard to achieve and maintain a full and active lifestyle. i live on my own. i cook. i drive. iwork out regularly.
after overcoming so many obstacles over the years, and acheiving a good measure of success, i look forward with confidence, to the future.