CALEB NICKERSON
SHAWVILLE Sept. 27, 2019
The yard at Dr. S.E. McDowell Elementary School in Shawville was packed with children and adults in jogging gear on . . .
Friday morning as they warmed up for the annual Terry Fox run.
Phys. Ed. teacher Bryn Jones got everyone’s blood pumping with a few light stretches and exercises before the herd stampeded across the yard with great enthusiasm.
Organizer Chrissy Gibb said that they used to have their run on the PPJ trail, but they decided to use the perimeter of the playground to better track their distance.
“We used to do it up on the bike path, but last year we started to do it here so the kids could set better goals,” she said, explaining that the perimeter is roughly one km. “Kindergarteners were doing five to ten km each. It really encourages them to do more … We’ve been practicing the last two weeks and our goal is the same distance as Terry did.”
In the afternoon, the students gathered in the gymnasium to hear from amputee advocate and marathoner Tom McIntyre, who spoke about the amputation of his right leg in 2005, due to a tree-felling accident. He had several prosthetics that he displayed each used for different activities such as running, walking or swimming, and spoke about his road to recovery.
He was invited by local Terry Fox crusader John Petty, who first met McIntyre several years ago through a former student, Colleen Stanley.
“I was looking for a way to make this more meaningful to the kids,” Petty said. “She said, ‘I’ve got to introduce you to this amazing guy.’”
McIntyre has spoken at both McDowell and Pontiac High School in the past and Petty said that it was high time they had him back.
“He’s a real giver, but he does more than running marathons, he mentors amputees,” he said. “He likes helping people and we’ve become good friends.”
McIntyre said he really tries to make the children aware of what amputees go through, and dispel any misconceptions they might have.
“Just showing them how life goes on after a major injury like that,” he said. “Your life can be as normal as you want it to be.”
The youngsters peppered him with questions about his day-to-day life and a few of the children’s queries caused McIntyre to chuckle.
“They had some good ones,” he said. “’Did I cry when it happened?’ ‘Did it hurt?’”
