Enabled. Not disabled. Ability. Not disability. How Terry Fox continues to inspire West Park’s amputee rehabilitation program

The night before Terry Fox’s leg amputation, his former basketball coach gave him a magazine article about an amputee who ran the #NewYorkMarathon. Reading the story about facing such adversity, Terry decided to meet his own challenge in a way that he would never look back and say it disabled him.

As Canadians, we are familiar with Terry Fox’s story and his decision to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research in a?Marathon of Hope.

As we celebrate the 43rd annual Terry Fox Run (September 17), it is worth pausing to reflect on the meaning of disability as it relates to amputees.

For Terry, his focus was on what he could do. Not what he couldn’t. Losing his leg to cancer didn’t disable Terry. Instead, it enabled him to set out on a journey that would, in dramatic fashion, captivate a nation and change the world.

Terry Stopping in at West Park for Repairs during the Marathon of Hope

After first dipping his artificial leg into the Atlantic Ocean at St John’s, Newfoundland, on April 12, 1980, Terry began his run across Canada. By the time he arrived in Ontario on June 28, Terry had clocked up close to 5,000 km using a prosthesis designed primarily for walking which, not surprisingly, required repairs and adjustments, which led him stop in at West Park Healthcare Centre ’s Prosthetic Department.

At the time of Terry’s run, West Park already had an established amputee facility within the hospital. Located in the Prittie Building, the program was started in the 1970’s when Karl Ruder opened a production and fitting facility to better serve our patients and the GTA’s amputee community. ??The equipment and patient treatment spaces were squeezed into a structure designed for another purpose.

Terry endeared himself to the staff of West Park with his gracious and courageous manner and the story of his visit is legendary with our community.

If Terry Visited West Park in 2024

West Park's new hospital building will open in 2024. If Terry could visit, he would have an entirely different experience. With custom-built facilities and new state-of-the-art technologies, West Park Healthcare Centre will build on Canada’s largest amputee program that serves more than 2,000 in-patient and out-patients annually.?

Terry would meet three amazing medical professionals who are changing care for people living with an amputation:

·?????? Dr. Steven Dilkas is Centre’s Amputee Rehabilitation service. He is medical advisor to several Paralympic teams and Invictus Games providing care to high performance athletes to win medals for Canada.

·?????? Winfried Heim is Manager of Prosthetic and Orthotic Services. He brings a lifetime of experience to his role guiding our team to produce prosthetics and care for our patients.

·?????? Dr. Crystal MacKay is West Park’s Scientist, Amputee Rehabilitation. She co-chaired the conference to set the Canadian research agenda for low limb amputation rehabilitation.

In 2024, Terry would enter a hospital with 100% fresh air circulated throughout a building that extends beyond the traditional walls, one that connects the indoor and outdoor therapeutic environments to seamlessly integrate with the healing power of nature and the surrounding Humber River green space.??

Advances in prosthetics since Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope

Thanks to the support of West Park Healthcare Centre Foundation donors, we are investing in technological advancements including biological inspired engineering, thermoplastic materials and 3D printing. West Park’s Prosthetics and Orthotics department now houses a full-service manufacturing facility, one that can build state-of-the-art prostheses and orthoses, which not only can be constructed faster and at less cost, but most importantly, will improve the quality of life and independence of amputee rehabilitation patients. ?

Domino effect of diabetes

While it was Terry Fox’s cancer diagnosis of osteogenic sarcoma just above the knee which necessitated his leg amputation, 80 per cent of amputee patients who come to West Park do so not because of cancer or accidents, but as a result of diabetes-related complications.

Today, there are more than 5.7 million Canadians living with diagnosed diabetes (type 1 or type 2). And while that number is staggeringly high and fast-increasing amongst younger and middle-aged adults, it is the domino effect of diabetes that is most worrying and helps explain the $30 billion cost to the health care system per year.

Diabetes is the single largest cause of blindness, and a leading cause of kidney failure and lower limb amputations.? In Canada, approximately 7,300 people undergo a diabetes-related lower limb amputation (LLA) every year.

Holistic approach

In response to the multiple co-morbidities associated with diabetes, along with its mental health impact, the new West Park Hospital which opens in November 2023, will boast a fully integrated continuum of care designed to meet the growing demands on the health care system as people live longer, many with complicating and chronic conditions.

Taking a truly holistic approach to care now means that patients can access kidney dialysis therapy, prosthetic adjustments and visit the Outpatient Rehabilitation facilities including a gymnasium and therapy pool. ?All at the one West Park location.

Terry’s enduring legacy

Echoing Terry Fox’s own refusal to be labelled “disabled”, Dr. Steven Dilkas notes: “patients may have lost a limb, but they have not lost their desire to be physically active and regain a sense of independence.”

While West Park’s amputee service continues to transform the lives of over 2,000 patients a year, we remain focused on improving the overall health outcomes of our patients by leading research to develop best practices and make the health system work better.

Many Paralympians often pay tribute to Terry as a source of inspiration in their quest to keep moving forward and never giving up. In marking September 17, we acknowledge the enormous contribution Terry Fox made when he prompted us to examine how we could improve a prosthetic and how that lesson has enabled us to focus more on the ability – not the disability – of our amputee patients as we help them get their lives back.