Annual Courage 1999

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April Porter, Mental Health

April Porter’s rapid mood-swings and anxiety eluded recognition and effective treatment until she was 37 years old.

As a teenager, the mood swings and migraine headaches were dealt with by highly addictive medications. As she grew older and her symptoms became more severe, she self-medicated, abusing alcohol and street drugs. With the help of her alcohol & drug program, physicians, medication that worked and most importantly, a talented therapist she trusted - she finally found some hope.

April has been alcohol- and drug-free since June 1, 1993. A budding artist, she became a volunteer and staff member at Gallery Gachet, a Vancouver cooperative run by and for artists with mental illness, where she also became a hardy advocate for people with mental health issues.

In 1999, she received her Courage to Come Back award in the Mental Health category. A year later, April began working as a Program Coordinator at the Canadian Mental Health Association, Vancouver-Burnaby Branch. She created a pilot community program to enable people with mental health issues to research, develop, and maintain viable businesses for themselves.

In March 2001 she encountered a setback – a rare sub-clavian aneurysm, which led to a 5-month recovery, but ultimately back to work at CMHA.

In August 2001, she developed the Supported Volunteer Program, which assists participants with mental health issues to achieve a greater degree of independence and confidence through community volunteering. The program is now into its fourth successful year and she is proud to work at an organization that embraces recovery & empowerment for people with mental illness.

April continues to speak to the wider community about mental health issues, the stigma of mental illness and the hope for recovery for all survivors.

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Lorne Kimber, General Medicine

In 1980, Lorne Kimber was diagnosed with chronic multiple sclerosis. By 1983, he was confined to a wheelchair but, in spite of this challenge, Lorne chaired the committee that revolutionized EXPO 86. Through his leadership, a determination was born to eradicate all physical barriers at the Fair. When EXPO 86 opened, Lorne and his wife were one of the first persons through the gate. It was a very happy day. It was also one of their last. Lorne's wife died of breast cancer in 1987 and since he was unable to physically care for his two sons, they were sent to be raised by relatives in Alberta. It was a devastating blow. In 1988, Lorne began Canada's first, 100% accessible taxi fleet, Kimber Cabs, and helped put together the team that brought accessible buses to the Greater Vancouver Regional District. He has spoken at conferences all over the world on behalf of physically challenged people who are often overlooked by architects and planners.

And Lorne is determined he will walk again. As determined to walk as he is about ensuring that true accessibility will be a reality. A man who has triumphed in spite of his challenges and who, through his service to the community, is showing us what it takes to have the courage to come back.

Deceased: April 22, 2008

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Andre Spencer, Chemical Dependency

Andre Spencer ran away from home at age 14. To survive on the street, he sold his body for money, and to survive his nightmare existence, he began to take drugs. At age 37, when he had lost all hope, he drove his car to the desert wilderness behind Osoyoos and ingested the drugs he had with him. And then he began to run. Fuelled by amphetamines, chased by demons, he ran until his legs gave out - too far from his car to even think of returning. He lived in the wilderness, meditating in a sweat lodge he had built and communicating with the Great Spirit, beginning to heal. After two weeks, he walked back to his car, drug free.

Since 1982, he has worked as a counselor in Victoria, first with the general population and then progressing to First Nation's individuals who had been labeled as "hopeless" or "incurable". He knows he has a God-given gift as a healer. His healing circles are well-respected. He solves modern problems with ancient wisdom. Andre fights to give his clients the hope he had once lost, that others might follow his hard-won example and have the courage to come back.

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Tina Suter, Physical Rehabilitation

Tina Suter was diagnosed with a non-malignant brain tumour when she was twenty-three years old. The operation to remove it required that they slice into the very centre of her brain. She had a daughter; a baby, only a year old. She had everything to live for but she was told she might die. When Tina woke up following her operation she was paralyzed on her right side and she had lost the ability to do even the most basic functions. Her short-term memory was non-existent, she was dyslexic and legally blind. But step by step, Tina began to reassemble her life. As her daughter Stacey learned, so did Tina - everything from toilet training to tying her shoes. And as Tina fought for recognition from the system, she found herself fighting on behalf of other brain injury survivors; acting as an advocate before she could even spell the word.

In spite of the fact she could barely read, she decided to go back to college and on January 18, 1999, Tina received her degree as a Community Social Service Worker from Douglas College. Today Tina and Stacey are planning to move back to the Okanagan where Tina will work as an advocate. To ensure that no one falls through the cracks of bureaucracy as she did once. To help others find, as she did, the courage to come back.

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Pamela Andrews, Economic Adversity

At 16, Pamela Andrews left home and got married. For ten years, she lived in extreme poverty on a farm in Northern Alberta with fifty dollars each month to buy what she could not grow, make or do without. She and her four boys endured unspeakable abuse at the hands of her husband. They moved to the city when the farm collapsed, and the city seemed to energize Pam and revive her beaten confidence. She left her husband and, with her boys, determined to go back to school and to rebuild her life from the ashes of her marriage. In spite of her own dramatic challenges, she still managed to teach English to new Canadians and to volunteer on a local crisis line. They moved to Vancouver in 1994 when Pam was accepted into the Occupational Therapy Program at the University of British Columbia (UBC).

But in 1977, Pam was diagnosed with chronic progressive multiple sclerosis. The disease had advanced quickly. Her life is lived in careful measures of exertion and rest. She is a top student at UBC, an award winner for a door-opening adaptive aid she invented, and she has been inducted into the Golden Key National Honour Society. In spite of some of the most daunting challenges life has to offer, Pamela Andrews has flourished. But anyone who knows her will tell you, well, that's just Pam. You see, Pamela Andrews has the courage to come back.