As a middle distance track athlete who is visually impaired, I must rely on guiding assistance from other runners in order to do the hard training needed to be competitive. Although I am extremely fortunate to have a committed group of training partners here in Ottawa with our track club, my main guide runner - with whom I have been partnered since 1998 - lives in Toronto.

 

Early in 2006, I was coming back after being hit by a car while on a training run with a friend, sustaining a fractured skull and a broken right leg. I was fortunately able to put a lot of focus on rehabbing my leg through physio and massage treatment while working a part time job. Coupled with some careful coaching, I slowly built up the quality and quantity of the running I could handle.

 

Being named as an Investors Group recipient made it possible for me to focus not only on rehabilitation after our accident while working just two days a week, but it allowed me to travel frequently to Toronto to train with my main guide. I was very fortunate to respond well to the mix of treatment and training. In July 2006, my guide and I qualified to represent Canada in the 800m and 1500m events for blind athletes at the IPC World Championships, held later that summer in Assen, the Netherlands. At the championships, we captured gold in both events. I believe we were fortunate in that the tactics in both races played into our hands, given that I was not in peak shape after having missed so much training earlier in the year. However, our success affirmed in my mind the fact that I was no longer in rehabilitation mode, and that I was truly back.

 

I feel a deep sense of appreciation towards Investors Group and to AthletesCAN for recognizing the efforts of so many athletes, and for providing support when it is truly needed. The assistance provided to me through the program was instrumental in enabling me to recover from injury and to get back on my running feet. Following our success at the IPC World Championships, my guide and I had our best ever season last year, establishing two new Canadian and Parapan American records in the 800m and 1500m blind events, and coming away with gold in both races at the Parapan American Games in Rio de Janeiro last August.

 

This year we are focused on achieving the qualification standard needed to represent Canada at the Paralympic Games in Beijing, where we hope to contest a medal in the 1500m race for blind runners. Two years ago, the likelihood of my guide and I being in this position was extremely low. Thanks to the phenomenal support of Investors Group and AthletesCAN, I've been able to take significant steps ahead - from the brink of what could have been a career ending injury, to the very real possibility of seeing my Paralympic dream come alive in 2008.