Duane Hicks
The word “quit” has never entered Terry Evanshen’s vocabulary, and that was the philosophy he shared with 160 delegates gathered here from across the region last Thursday morning.
The CFL Hall-of-Famer was the keynote speaker at the 63rd-annual general conference of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association held at the Memorial Sports Centre auditorium, where he delivered his message of commitment and self-determination, as well as encouraged municipal leaders to work together as a team and “seize each day.”
Evanshen was 21 when he broke into the CFL as a receiver for Montreal Alouettes. After a 14-year career with them, Calgary, Hamilton, and Toronto, he was the youngest player to be inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
After retiring, he turned to the world of business. But his life took a near-tragic turn on July 4, 1988 when he was returning home from work and his Jeep was struck by a van which had run a red light.
He was so badly injured that a priest administered last rites.
After being in a coma for almost a month, he finally woke up—only for doctors and his family and friends to discover the 44-year-old had suffered permanent brain damage and his memory was erased.
Starting from “square one,” Evanshen had to rely on his family to help him recover. This wasn’t always easy as his memory loss had made him an “impatient, inconsiderate person” who essentially lost his emotions due to the damage to the frontal lobe of his brain.
“I was difficult, ugly—a miserable tyrant in my own home,” he recalled.
This made it especially trying for those around him, who had to re-teach him to speak, read and write, shave, swim, and even throw and catch a football.
Evanshen credited his recovery to the good quality of life he had built up before the accident and those whom he had earned the trust, love, and respect of—wife and children, friends, and teammates who stuck by him after the accident.
“They would tell me stories about myself, who I was, my character, and what I did, over and over again,” he remarked, adding he used this to be “an actor” in his own life.
Due to the permanent retrograde amnesia, Evanshen undergoes occupational therapy daily as he fights to maintain his identity and rebuild his confidence and purpose one step at a time.
A very successful inspirational speaker now, he admitted he’ll have to keep using cue cards for the rest of his life.
“Because of my short and long-term memory deficit, I take each moment as it comes, like right now, to cast and make the new Terry,“ he noted.
“I will admit to you, I like the new Terry,” he added.
Harkening back to his CFL career, Evanshen stressed the importance of teamwork to the municipal delegates, adding it builds confidence in the players. And when the players respect themselves and others, “it brings the team to another level.”
“No matter how complex a situation, you have to make it simple,” he continued. “When things look too difficult as you’re trying to reach your goal, break it down. . . .
“We will get to the finish line when we take small steps, we take one day at a time, and we take one moment at a time.”
Evanshen also said it’s important to ignore negative people and surround yourself with people who are a good influence on you, and vice-versa.
“Anyone with a bad attitude, get them off the team today,” he stressed.
“Attitude to me is more important than all the facts of life,” he later added. “It is your individual choice to be a good person, to be bad, or to be indifferent. You decide who you want to be.”
Evanshen concluded that “leaders are made,” and if one decides to be a leader, they should never be afraid to question the way things have always been done, be innovative, and willing to take risks, as with risks come “challenges, rewards, and rejuvenation.”
Evanshen’s life has been chronicled in a best-selling book, “The Man Who Lost Himself: The Terry Evanshen Story,” by June Callwood, as well as a CTV original movie.
Just as they did to thank each of the speakers at last week’s conference, NOMA made a donation in Evanshen’s name to the Northwestern Ontario Medical Education Award Fund.
