Annual Courage 2002

The Fourth Annual Courage To Come Back Awards

Recipients:

Kelsey Kilburn, Youth
Randy Herman, Physical Rehabilitation
Punkaj Bhushan, Mental Health
Jade Bell, Chemical Dependency
Cheryl Brown, General Medicine
Yvonne Sutton-Fregin, Social/Economic Adversity

Kelsey Kilburn, Youth

Kelsey was born with a series of challenges including a collapsed lung and non-functioning "polycystic" kidneys. She was placed on dialysis at age three and had a kidney transplant at four.

Her anti-rejection medicines produced a series of side-effects and she was subsequently diagnosed with fibrosis of the liver. "It seems surreal to me now," Kelsey says of those days spent being constantly in and out of hospital at a very early age.

Today, Kelsey Kilburn is a Grade 11 Honour Roll student at Steveston Secondary School, where she is a member of the student council. She is an active volunteer with the BC Transplant Society, for whom she makes presentations to other high school students about the importance of organ donations. Through the Kidney Foundation, she has attended Camp Dialysun on Lake Joseph, Ontario on six occasions, taking a leadership role among children who share her affliction. "I love that place," she says.

Kelsey is an aspiring actress who plans to take courses in both that discipline and broadcasting after graduation. She approaches her life with optimism and great energy. "The way she lives her life," says her mom, Barb Kilburn, "helps everyone who knows her put their own issues into perspective."

Photo credit: Courtesy of The Province

Randy Herman, Physical Rehabilitation

Corporal Herman began his RCMP career in 1972 in North Vancouver. In February 1985, during a routine traffic stop in Maple Ridge, a pickup truck smashed into him. He woke up three days later in hospital with fractures and internal injuries. Four months later, he was back at work.

Nearly two years later, Cpl. Herman was off duty, driving home with his wife Tammy when a car rolled over ahead of him. A youth from the car attacked Randy, stabbing him with a screwdriver.

Randy Herman, a father of two sons, was quickly back to work and soon volunteering his time with the Law Enforcement Torch Run, Special Olympics and B.C. Summer Games. Then, in 1998, he was stricken with crushing pain, diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and given less than two weeks to live. At home getting his affairs in order, Randy suffered a grievous blow when Bob Franklin, his father-in-law and very close friend, fell off a ladder and died.

Randy underwent a 14-hour surgery in 2001 to remove a huge tumor. He lost 65 lbs., but has now gained 40 of them back. He returned to work in April, 2002. "There's always a positive," he says.

Deceased February 17, 2006

Photo credit: Courtesy of The Province

Punkaj Bhushan, Mental Health

Punkaj was an MBA student when he was first diagnosed as having schizophrenia in 1991. "I didn't believe it," he remembers. The combination of the illness and the drugs used then to treat it left him morose, drowsy and unfocused, and often in the hospital psychiatric ward. Gradually, he learned more about and came to grips with his challenges. As his sisters Shashi and Renu recall it," it was he who found the courage to explain to us what he was going through." He had begun his comeback, buying a business which helped him learn about business, management, customer service and self-esteem. That was in 1995, the year he married Anooradha, with whom he has daughter Daamini, three, and is expecting a second child in June. Beginning in 1998, Punkaj worked as a volunteer, then a staff member at the BC Coalition for People with Disabilities, then at the Canadian Mental Health Association. He is now performing contract research for VanCity Credit Union and continues to speak out at seminars and conferences. His message to those with mental illness: "With the proper medications, education and lifestyle, it's possible to live a full and happy life." He knows; he does.

Photo credit: Courtesy of The Province

Jade Bell, Chemical Dependency

Jade grew up in Coquitlam. He was a tall, handsome, intelligent and energetic young man. But at 12 he became a diabetic and started believing that he was here for a good time, not a long time. This started him on the road to drinking alcohol, and by the time he was 15 he was doing crack cocaine, later, he graduated to heroin.

On August 22, 1997 Jade got off work and went to a friend's place. While there, he overdosed on a combination of alcohol, cocaine and heroin. Despite receiving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, Jade was starved for oxygen for 15 minutes and lapsed into a coma. At first he appeared unscathed, but when he awoke the second time, he was blind, paralyzed and unable to speak. For the longest time he just wanted to die. But Jade decided otherwise. After months of encouragement from his father, Jade said,"I am going to tell my story until innocent people stop using dope. Some won't listen. But the one I save will make my life worth living".

With the support of his family and friends Jade moved from an institution to an apartment. He has brought his message (using Morse code and a computerized voice generator) to more than 58,000 school students throughout B.C.

Photo credit: Courtesy of The Province

Cheryl Brown, General Medicine

Cheryl came to B.C. from Montreal in the 70s, worked as a school psychologist and post-secondary counsellor and earned a Masters in Educational Psychology at UBC. In the late 70s, she developed rheumatoid arthritis, first in her shoulders and hands, and then throughout her body. She was hospitalized for surgery and/or rehabilitation on a number of occasions; it wasn’t until 1995 that a reasonably effective combination of medications and other treatments was in place.

By 1993, Cheryl had retired early due to her arthritis and was diagnosed with stage IIIc ovarian cancer. Since then, she has faced at least eight recurrences of the disease, necessitating chemotherapy, radiation, surgery to remove tumours and other treatments. The disease spread to her brain, but she refuses to give ground or lose hope.

She was the co-founder of the Ovarian Cancer Alliance Canada/Alliance Canadienne du Cancer de l'Ovaire (OCAC/ACCO), a national organization which supports and informs women, their loved ones and health care professionals about the disease. OCAC/ACCO today consumes most of Cheryl’s time. “I know that I’m making a difference,” she says, “and that’s what’s important to me.”

Deceased February 23, 2003

Photo credit: Courtesy of The Province

Yvonne Sutton-Fregin, Social/Economic Adversity

Yvonne grew up in Edmonton, a victim of sexual abuse who moved from home to the streets, foster homes and convents. At 14, she was sentenced to the Alberta Institution for Girls (AIG), from which she often ran away. At 16, she made it to Hay River, then Toronto and Peterborough, Ont. Sent back to AIG, she was befriended and helped by two staff members she came to trust.

She had two marriages to abusive men (and two children) as a young adult. At 21, she was divorced and a single mother. At 25, she moved to British Columbia, refused welfare and took menial jobs to support herself. Mentored by the late May Gutteridge, she began working at Powell Place, part of the St. James Community Service Society.

She remained a binge drinker, however. In 1982, her children, teenagers then, forced her to confront the issue and join a self-help program.

In 1989 she met her future husband, Rodney Fregin; they married in 1994.

Today, she is a senior staff member at Aunt Leah_s Residential Home, a group home for pregnant teens. She is an active attendee at Pastor Mark Francisco’s Coquitlam Alliance Church. As she emphatically puts it, “If I can make it, anybody can.”

Photo credit: Courtesy of The Province