Pull Through Darryl Tait

Dearest family & friends, who continue to give us much support in our journey;

We are challenged these days because many of our dear friends at GF Strong are leaving or preparing to live their lives independently post Spinal Cord Injury. It is a natural progression but it is like being separated from our new family members. Oh, the heart feels the tug and it is not easy to say goodbye!!!! We truly have been richly blessed by their presence in all our lives. New clients will join us in our journey, and no doubt will feel like family members as well.

Our journey to Aspen, Colorado to spectate at the 2010 Winter X Games was a HUGE learning curve for Darryl, Jamie and myself !!!!! Darryl had hoped in the late summer of 2009 (pre-spinal cord injury), to be competing in the Snowmobile Freestyle event of these games. It was an emotional event for all of us, on different levels and in many respects we are still processing things. It was a bridge we all needed to cross in moving forward with our lives.

We cannot say enough about Darryl's friends in the sport who rallied around to give us support. We truly could not have done this trip without them !!!!! They arranged for pit passes, parking pass,and given access to the athletes' tent to warm up. Darryl was toured around by a buddy (fellow rider) in an all terrain vehicle to meet various riders in the industry. This was truly one of the highlights for Darryl, as he finally met some of the riders he had always looked up to and respected for many years.The generosity of others (perfect strangers at times) was amazing !!!!!!!!! from assisting us getting Darryl up the snow covered hillside to the pit and viewing area, to visiting with us and making us feel right at home!!!

We all had the opportunity to meet Mike Schultz (amputee athlete) and Doug Henry (low injury paraplegic athlete) who both won gold and bronze medals respectively in the adaptive snocross competition. Both of these athletes are truly inspiring with absolutely amazing attitudes towards life !!!! I know for sure Darryl will be in touch in the upcoming years with Doug Henry. He really took time out of his busy schedule to talk one on one with Darryl, and give him some pointers on life as a paraplegic. With role models like these AWESOME guys for Darryl, it just gives you a sense of reassurance as his parents, for his independent life ahead.

Not sure if any of you watched the total X Games competition on TV but it was unbelievable!!!!!

United Airlines was AWESOME in assisting us through our first time experience travelling with Darryl in his wheelchair. There is an alot to consider as Darryl's parents but even more so by Darryl !!!!!!!! You know how we can sit back and relax once we are settled in our aircraft seat, such is not the case for Darryl. He is always trying to find his balance point (remember I told you it is like he is sitting on a large pilates ball from his upper chest down) as he is sitting in an unfamiliar seat, anticipating the movement of the aircraft. A shoulder harness like in a car would have been an asset but I think the pilots and crew members are the only ones who have them on in the aircraft. My mind is buzzing with how we could make it better for him, in that regards with some attachment to the existing apparatus so he can feel more stable.

For the most part, Darryl stayed warm during the outdoor event because we layered on the clothes. It appears in doing that we caused a pressure sore to develop on his butt. We caught it early and it is still healing (the medical staff believe it should be healed by early next week). We have three thoughts on what happened (1) that a couple layers of clothing (ie fleece pants and the outdoor lined snow pants) lined up the seams one on top of the other and caused just enough of a ridge to form to cause pressure to the one area of his butt (2) or that having a few layers on caused a wedgie to form on the inner most fabric and caused pressure on the area. (3) A transfer from or to his chair where he landed on tire of his wheelchair or the clothing guard. WOW, we all have so much to learn !!!!! Pressure sores are not something you want to happen because of the limitations it sets on the person in the wheelchair activities and it takes so much energy from the body to heal the presssure sore. Anyways, we are going to learn from this and ask other peer mentors what they do to dress for the cold. We thought we had a good handle on how to do it before we left for the trip, but obviously we need to fine tune it and learn more.

For every good day on the trip, we had a high learning day, where we had to lie low!!!!! It was amazing to see how the altitude of Aspen played into the duration of our activities. We had factored it into our thoughts but probably not quite enough. Jamie and I became Darryl's nursing staff so we were starting to run a little shy on sleep by the end of the trip. But in all fairness, Darryl was tired too from the daily challenges and another urinary tract infection.

Our original hotel booking was for an accessible room but they upgraded our room (thinking it would help us out). It posed some real challenges for Darryl and he was a real trooper about it all. To transfer into the bed it was up six inches from his wheelchair. I know that sounds crazy but you would have thought we were royalty with the height of these fluffy beds in our room. The sinks in the bathroom came up almost to Darryl's sitting down chin height. We all have a new appreciation of the importance of ensuring the reservations on accessible hotel accomodations is not altered for our next trip.

Today was the assessment for driver's rehab for Darryl. Hand controls, of course are in order, approximately 3 lessons and then a road test, all of which will take place after the Olympics. As a result, Darryl's discharge date will probably be extended to more like the middle of March. We really want to make sure he is able to drive before leaving Vancouver ,because we strongly believe this is critical to him living his life independantly.

We continue to have prayers answered like Darryl slowly reducing his pain medication, gaining wisdom and knowledge as we go, continually relying on our Lord to supply our every need, and to sustain us all. The continued healing of Darryl's body - he is gaining sensation further down his body than originally determined upon entry into the rehab center. The staff at GF Strong continues to find favour with Darryl. WHAT AN AWESOME GOD WE SERVE.!!!!!!!!! He hears our cries and petitions and He is faithful in honouring them. I am humbled daily by His presence in our lives !!!!!

Tonight is the fund raiser in Whitehorse for Jessica Frotten (21 years old) who suffered a spinal cord injury after being in a car accident as a result of a drunk driver. This took place after Darryl's accident later in the fall. Please take the time out of your busy schedule to lift her up in prayer and if you are able to give financial to help her and her family out.

We are really looking forward to returning to the north soon!!!!! We know our remaining time in Vancouver is going to fly by!!!!

Take good care of yourself and those you love.

With much love and gratitude,

Jamie, Barb, Curtis, Becky and our beloved, Darryl