It was around 1959, I was a Little League pitcher with a great arm and three paper routes when polio struck. After a long summer of lying in a bed paralyzed and delirious I recovered enough to go back to school, grade 8. I like to think my mother prayed me through it. Miraculously I didn't have lasting effects but missed out on hockey and was too weak to keep up with football past the junior level.
Staying in shape by jogging, toning with free weights on and off and watching my diet kept me looking normal for years. In 2000 my wife Denise and I rediscovered the amazing, unconditional love Christ has for us and together with our children Will and Caroline we made a decision to give our lives to Him. It all happened just in time to slay a vicious case of cancer that seized Denise and return a long lost daughter to me! So many undeserved second chances were given to us we wondered if I could have a second chance as an athlete.
At age 65, I started working out doing powerlifting with an empty bar and adding 5 pounds a week. Two years later a great believer in Christ, Leon Brown, the man who introduced us to the church we still attend (where he was a pastor) encouraged me to compete. To my amazement, in the next year at age 67, I started setting records. Since then I've had many Canadian and International records from the Masters 2 and 3 categories (while in my 60's) and Masters 4 now that I'm over 70. Since turning 67 I've added more than 40 pounds of body mass, which I'd like to think is mostly muscle.
One thing I do know for sure is that our God is a God of second chances, from rescuing both my wife and I from deadly disease to putting me on the international stage as a world, record holding, athlete...years after retirement age!
Thank you Leon for showing me the way and thank you Lord for giving me another, second chance.
