Al ‘s Story – Getting Involved Again (KBIA)

Al taught at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) most of his adult life, instructing students in Computers and Electronics. He retired in 2006, but continued his volunteer work with the Scouts and the World Skills Organization. In 2014, he had a stroke.

This left him paralyzed on the left side of his body, limited his speech and took away his ability to do many basic physical tasks. He had to give up volunteer work with youth, as he had done his entire life, and went from being “an active guy for 75, in good shape for my age”, to someone who “watched far too much TV”. He was not very hopeful and was doing very little with his time. Everything was “slow and frustrating”.

Being over the age of 65, Al did not qualify for support from the provincial health programs. Fortunately, the Brain Injury Alliance advocates for this group and there were support groups running at the Kamloops Brain Injury Association (KBIA).

Al met up with KBIA during one of their community outreach efforts and started attending group activities. He took part in a Stroke Injury Information session KBIA put on in partnership with the Nursing school at TRU. After years of teaching at TRU, Al was now learning from TRU students. He was also interacting with people with similar challenges to what he faced.

Al says he gets a lot of inspiration and comfort from listening to other survivors talk about their lives. He is particularly moved by the people who had injuries when they were young. “I realize how lucky I was to get 75 years of active life.”

Realizing how much potential there is in survivors, Al decided to get back into volunteering. He has requested a criminal record check, and once that clears, he will be helping at The Mission, a local center for street involved people.

I can’t do everything, but I can do something, something to help. So I am going get involved again. ~ Al