Annual Courage 2000

Recipients:

• Paul McGillicuddy, Mental Health
• Karilyn Walker, General Medicine
• Dorothy Ward, Chemical Dependency
• Sherry Caves, Physical Rehabilitation
• Carol Dauphinais, Economic Adversity
• Natalie Lachowicz, Youth

Paul McGillicuddy, Mental Health

Paul, 42, has been diagnosed with mental illness since 1985: first, manic depression (now known as bi-polar disorder), then paranoid schizophrenia. He controls his illness with various prescribed medications, taking more than a dozen pills a day.

Paul McGillicuddy lost his job in the mid-1980's as a result of his illness; in 1992 he left his wife and family for the same reason. In 1994 he was arrested during a psychotic episode and jailed. He spent a total of three months in the Forensic Psychiatric Institute in Port Coquitlam before the charges against him were stayed. He has been hospitalized on 16 occasions.

Paul's efforts as a mental health activist began when he organized a forensic survivors support group in 1995. He became active with the West Coast Mental Health Network, volunteered with the Vancouver Food Bank and served on several committees of the Vancouver-Richmond Health Board. Today he's a vigorous self-advocate with the Kettle Friendship Society. Paul underwent surgery for a brain abscess in the fall of 1999, had to relearn basic life skills, and lost the use of his right hand.

Through all his tribulations, Paul McGillicuddy has retained both his sense of humour and his sense of proportion. 'I've learned to dream again, he says simply.

Deceased August 4, 2004

Karilyn Walker, General Medicine

Karilyn was diagnosed at age nine with Crohn's Disease, a chronic intestinal disorder with no known cause and no cure.

The disease, which can go into remission for unpredictable periods, was treated with many drugs and monitored by frequent blood tests. Karilyn was a successful and physically active student through elementary and high school and graduated from the University of Victoria in 1993. As a young adult, she backxpacked around the South Pacific for five months. She is now an investment advisor with Nesbitt Burns in Victoria.

Karilyn suffered a serious Crohn's flare-up beginning in 1995: the disease, unusually, attacked her duodenum, the short passage which joins the stomach and small intestine. That passageway was effectively closed, causing great pain and vomiting. For a year, she was fed through a 'J-tube' inserted in her side. By 1998, she was sent to the Mayo Clinic, then to Toronto for intricate surgery. She was in hospital for 64 days and suffered severe complications, including Grand Mal seizures which left her temporarily without short-term memory and a twisted bowel which required further surgeries.

Karilyn's disease is now in remission. She continues to work at her challengxing job, contributes significantly to the work of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada, raises money to help in the fight against these diseases, makes public presentations about inflammatory bowel disorders and visits hosxpital patients newly diagnosed with Crohn's Disease.

She walks with a knee brace - the result of a January skiing accident - and expects to undergo orthopedic and further intestinal surgery in May.

Dorothy Ward, Chemical Dependency

The fourth oldest of 12 children, Dorothy, who had two alcoholic parents, spent ten unhappy years from age six at a residential school. She started drinking at 16 and remembers drinking every day while working as a teenage babysitter and housekeeper.

She married an alcoholic in 1958 and had six children. She was widowed and left destitute at age 34. But, as she says, with help from God and a lot of other people, she got sober, went back to school in Grade 7 and finished Grade 12 in 1974. She then began working to help other First Nations families as a counselor. And she added to her education, with a B.A. degree from Lakehead University and a degree in social work from the University of Victoria.

She hopes to gain her Masters in social work in spring, 2001. Dorothy has been Director of Social Development for the 900-member Penticton Indian Band since 1994. She deals with counseling, child welfare and social assistance issues. She is renowned for her honesty, wisdom and sharing spirit.

Sherry Caves, Physical Rehabilitation

Sherry, now 34, was rendered a paraplegic when her family's car was hit by a drunk driver in 1973, not far from her Kelowna home. The seven-year old was moved to Sunnyhill Hospital in Vancouver, where her parents were able to visit only once every two weeks.

Sherry was moved to G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre when it opened five months later, the only child in an adult facility. She persevered, and, despite trials and setbacks, was finally able to return home in the fall of 1974. Despite a diagnosis of scoliosis (curvature of the spine) and undergoing five more operations before she turned 21, Sherry excelled at school and participated energetically in wheelchair sports. She was a camp counselor, graduated from high school and college and traveled solo to the South Pacific at 19.

After her return, she worked full-time at BC Tel until her deteriorating spinal condition forced her to quit. Sherry married her physiotherapist; she and Darryl have a five-year old son, Aidan. She's gotten into sailing and kayaking and continues her long crusade against drinking and driving as Vice-President of the B.C. chapter of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). As a mother, she's determined to help prevent what happened to her as a child from happening to other kids.

Carol Dauphinais, Economic Adversity

Carol was the fourth of ten children born to deep poverty on Vancouver Island. She learned how to get her younger siblings out of the house to avoid beatings and drunken parties. She was sexually assaulted at home. She missed a great deal of school but secretly taught herself to read using a Grade 8 speller.

At age 16 she was apprehended by the social services ministry and placed in a series of foster homes. Officially classified as a "low moron", she was labeled as incorrigible and sent to institutions, first the Willingdon Girls Industrial School in Burnaby and later Woodlands School (for people with a mental handicap) in New Westminster. Finally, she escaped. At 21, living in a park and jobless, she applied for a room to rent and was befriended and housed, -" it was like going from hell to heaven", - by a kind stranger named Gwen. Carol worked at hospitals and went to night school to upgrade herself.

'My life,' Carol says now, 'has been a series of miracles.' In 1975, she met a good man named Ernie; on May 14, 2000, they will celebrate their 17th wedding anniversary. Carol began writing her book, Living with Labels and Lies, in 1990; it was published in 1997 and carries a simple but very powerful message. In Carol's words, 'We need to stop the clock on child abuse.'

Natalie Lachowicz, Youth

Natalie, then 11, suffered a devastating 30-metre fall in September 1997 while climbing a cliff near her home. Her brother Mark, 13, died trying to save her. Natalie had a shattered skull, fractured pelvis and punctured lung, among other injuries. She was in a coma for six days and awoke to discover she couldn't read, write or walk.

Today, Natalie remains partially paralyzed on her right side. But she writes with her left hand, she can read again and she walks without a cane. She returned to school in the fall of 1998 and is now an honour-roll student at Valleyview Secondary School in Kamloops, where she serves on the student council.

Helped by her indomitable spirit and a joyous laugh, Natalie continues to make physical progress. She wants to be a photographer. She wants as well to continue helping others. She helped organize drives at her school which raised more than $1,200 for the Kamloops Brain Injury Association and the B.C. Children's Hospital, in whose 1999 telethon she was a volunteer participant. This spring, she'll be visiting Kamloops-area elementary schools to talk about safety and preventing brain injuries.