"Every June when preparations
begin for National Aboriginal
Day, we at Eagle Feather
News like to reflect on the people and
the spirit that have kept us going,
through all kinds of hardships, for the
past centuries. They say the Aboriginal
people of this territory have
survived through their hard work,
family and, when times are really
tough, their sense of humour.
I recently had the pleasure of
meeting a gentleman who encompassed all of those characteristics.
Stan
Delorme is a member of Cowessess
First Nation and is their land manager
and also runs a successful outfitting
company. What sets him apart is that
for the past two years, Stan has been
relearning how to live and how to run
his company from a wheelchair.
In the summer of 2007 Stan was
bitten by a tiny mosquito. He does not
even remember when he was bit, but
he figures it was around the time he
saw his farmer neighbour while he was
out chasing horses and fixing fence.
Stan checked into the hospital several
days later because he lost his balance
and had massive chills and fever.
He had brushed it off as heat
stroke. He was wrong. A diagnosis
came ten days later. It was West Nile
virus, and his neighbour checked into
the same hospital two days later with
the same affliction.
By that time, Stan could not walk.
The virus attacked his muscle tissue
and nerve endings, severely affecting
his left side. He was hospitalized for a
month and then was transferred to the
Wascana Centre for another month and
a half of rehab. The doctors gave the
busy and motivated outdoorsman a not
so good prognosis.
“To this day, they tell me I might
not walk,” says Delorme. “Four
months ago,I sat on the bed, something
told me to get up…so I did and walked
out of the bedroom. I have gone from
being completely dependant on my
power chair to now, with a walker, I
can go 150 paces or so and by fall I
should be able to be away from the
walker for a half hour or so.
But if this is it, this is it. I am
happy where I am at. Compared to
lying on your back and not knowing
what is going on. I can live with this.”
Till then, he is having trouble
mastering wheel chairs.
“The power chair is something
that you have to learn to operate.”
He learned the hard way by
rolling his six wheeler.
“It is not as easy as people think.
I rolled a manual chair, my power chair.
I’m the kind of guy who has to do
things. I fell off my quad last Monday
and bruised some ribs. But I am not
going to let a mosquito bite slow me
down.”
Delorme admits that the hardest
part has been adjusting to his lack of
mobility and other normal activities.
“Not doing the regular functions
for yourself on a day to day basis…
there are a lot of things that a man takes
for granted. It is a real mind game to
stay positive. I stayed positive and had
lots of support. Jennifer was great. She
went through everything with me.”
Through the entire ordeal, Stan
had his wife, Jennifer Pelletier, beside
him and a big group of family and
friends that helped with the adjustment.
Jennifer quit her job, the guides in the
outfitting business did more work, and
Stan ran the business from his chair.
It has been difficult to adjust and
there have been many tears, but there
have also been lots of laughs.
“We have learned to count on
each other,” said Stan of Jennifer.
“When I rolled the chairs, I laughed,
she cried.”
“But I had to pull the chairs off
him,” laughed Jennifer.
And Stan has learned some life
lessons.
“I don’t panic anymore. My
buddy saw me fall off my quad and he
panicked so bad he could not dial his
phone. I rolled around, pulled out my
phone and dialed for help. I have way
more patience. I used to be rammy.
Now I count on help.”
Jennifer remarked that they have
a whole new perspective on life around
what people say is wheelchair accessible, and that there is a big difference
between accessible and friendly.
“Stan needs a different kind of
hotel room and we need a shower
bench. The one at the hotel had four tiny
slats across and Stan is a big man, so it
would not work,” added Jennifer. “We
had lots of stumbles, but we made it.”
To this day Stan is open and very
pragmatic about his situation. You can
tell he loves his family and they love
him and he knows it could be worse.
“I saw lots of people in the hospital
when I shared a room that did not have
the support I did,” said Delorme.“With
that support, I am good. And I still get
to do what I love and I am not lying on
my back in a hospital bed. Once I was
at that point, I figured it could only get
better from here.”
Family, hard work and humour
are certainly crucial elements in the life
of Stan Delorme.There is a lesson to
be learned from him and his family."http://aborigin.sasktelwebhosting.com/Resources/June_2009.pdf
begin for National Aboriginal
Day, we at Eagle Feather
News like to reflect on the people and
the spirit that have kept us going,
through all kinds of hardships, for the
past centuries. They say the Aboriginal
people of this territory have
survived through their hard work,
family and, when times are really
tough, their sense of humour.
I recently had the pleasure of
meeting a gentleman who encompassed all of those characteristics.
Stan
Delorme is a member of Cowessess
First Nation and is their land manager
and also runs a successful outfitting
company. What sets him apart is that
for the past two years, Stan has been
relearning how to live and how to run
his company from a wheelchair.
In the summer of 2007 Stan was
bitten by a tiny mosquito. He does not
even remember when he was bit, but
he figures it was around the time he
saw his farmer neighbour while he was
out chasing horses and fixing fence.
Stan checked into the hospital several
days later because he lost his balance
and had massive chills and fever.
He had brushed it off as heat
stroke. He was wrong. A diagnosis
came ten days later. It was West Nile
virus, and his neighbour checked into
the same hospital two days later with
the same affliction.
By that time, Stan could not walk.
The virus attacked his muscle tissue
and nerve endings, severely affecting
his left side. He was hospitalized for a
month and then was transferred to the
Wascana Centre for another month and
a half of rehab. The doctors gave the
busy and motivated outdoorsman a not
so good prognosis.
“To this day, they tell me I might
not walk,” says Delorme. “Four
months ago,I sat on the bed, something
told me to get up…so I did and walked
out of the bedroom. I have gone from
being completely dependant on my
power chair to now, with a walker, I
can go 150 paces or so and by fall I
should be able to be away from the
walker for a half hour or so.
But if this is it, this is it. I am
happy where I am at. Compared to
lying on your back and not knowing
what is going on. I can live with this.”
Till then, he is having trouble
mastering wheel chairs.
“The power chair is something
that you have to learn to operate.”
He learned the hard way by
rolling his six wheeler.
“It is not as easy as people think.
I rolled a manual chair, my power chair.
I’m the kind of guy who has to do
things. I fell off my quad last Monday
and bruised some ribs. But I am not
going to let a mosquito bite slow me
down.”
Delorme admits that the hardest
part has been adjusting to his lack of
mobility and other normal activities.
“Not doing the regular functions
for yourself on a day to day basis…
there are a lot of things that a man takes
for granted. It is a real mind game to
stay positive. I stayed positive and had
lots of support. Jennifer was great. She
went through everything with me.”
Through the entire ordeal, Stan
had his wife, Jennifer Pelletier, beside
him and a big group of family and
friends that helped with the adjustment.
Jennifer quit her job, the guides in the
outfitting business did more work, and
Stan ran the business from his chair.
It has been difficult to adjust and
there have been many tears, but there
have also been lots of laughs.
“We have learned to count on
each other,” said Stan of Jennifer.
“When I rolled the chairs, I laughed,
she cried.”
“But I had to pull the chairs off
him,” laughed Jennifer.
And Stan has learned some life
lessons.
“I don’t panic anymore. My
buddy saw me fall off my quad and he
panicked so bad he could not dial his
phone. I rolled around, pulled out my
phone and dialed for help. I have way
more patience. I used to be rammy.
Now I count on help.”
Jennifer remarked that they have
a whole new perspective on life around
what people say is wheelchair accessible, and that there is a big difference
between accessible and friendly.
“Stan needs a different kind of
hotel room and we need a shower
bench. The one at the hotel had four tiny
slats across and Stan is a big man, so it
would not work,” added Jennifer. “We
had lots of stumbles, but we made it.”
To this day Stan is open and very
pragmatic about his situation. You can
tell he loves his family and they love
him and he knows it could be worse.
“I saw lots of people in the hospital
when I shared a room that did not have
the support I did,” said Delorme.“With
that support, I am good. And I still get
to do what I love and I am not lying on
my back in a hospital bed. Once I was
at that point, I figured it could only get
better from here.”
Family, hard work and humour
are certainly crucial elements in the life
of Stan Delorme.There is a lesson to
be learned from him and his family."http://aborigin.sasktelwebhosting.com/Resources/June_2009.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment