Paige Desmond
When Ian Crowe of Kenora went snowboarding with a friend, he thought it would be a day of adventure and fun.
Little did he know that day would change the rest of his life.
“I was just like almost all of you in this room,” Crowe told district students last Wednesday morning at the Townshend Theatre. “I felt like I was king of the school, I felt like I was invincible.”
But Crowe was wrong.
After attempting to do a jump he should never have tried due to his lack of experience, Crowe landed head first, upside down in the snow, and broke his neck.
“I could not feel my legs, I couldn’t feel anything,” he recalled.
“On Dec. 29 of 2000, I was told I would never walk again. I didn’t know what to say or even think.”
Now 26, the quadriplegic related this message to more than 1,200 district students from Grades 7-12 over two days last week as part of the SMARTRISK “Heroes” program in conjunction with the local P.A.R.T.Y program, sponsored by CN Rail and in partnership with the Rainy River District Substance Abuse Prevention Team.
SMARTRISK is a national, non-profit organization formed in 1992.
The “Heroes” program tours all over North America, bringing the message of risk reduction and injury prevention to youths while taking the unique approach of not preaching to kids a list of things they can’t do.
“It’s giving them the choice,” explained P.A.R.T.Y co-ordinator John Beaton.
The philosophy of the program is to teach kids to make smart choices and smart risks, and emphasizes five ways to do so: buckle up, look first, wear the gear, get trained, and drive sober.
Using a combination of fast-paced, colourful video imagery and live interaction, the program is delivered here every four years to make sure all students see at least one of the shows, which are revamped over time.
Crowe related his determination to make the best of his situation and endured an intense seven months of rehabilitation.
“I hurt myself so I had to fix myself,” he stated matter-of-factly. “I didn’t want anybody to feel bad or feel sorry for me.”
Crowe is now a wheelchair rugby player for Team Canada and Team Manitoba, as well as plays basketball.
He’s now in his second year of making presentations for SMARTRISK and though he used to be nervous, the experience has proven to be a good one for Crowe.
“They were all listening,” he said of Wednesday’s audience.
Every year, preventable injuries kill more than 800 teenagers in Canada, or more than two teens every day, according to SMARTRISK.
Crystal Lambertson, a Grade 10 student who saw the presentation and also is a First Responder at Fort Frances High School, said the message of SMARTRISK made her rethink some of her own choices.
“I’m usually pretty safe, but it just puts things into perspective,” she said after last week’s show.
Beaton, meanwhile, hopes the message is getting through to students. He was happy with the response from last week’s shows.
“I think they’re going very well,” he said before the final session. “I think [the students] really enjoyed talking to a real person.”
Beaton hopes the SMARTRISK program, in conjunction with things like D.A.R.E., Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and the P.A.R.T.Y program, will help district teens make safer choices.
As Crowe, himself, put it: “If you can see the risks in your lives, then you can learn how to manage them. It’s your choice, it’s your responsibility, it’s your life.”
