Check out David's story in the Winter 2011 issue of Headline Magazine (pg 12)
http://brainstreams.ca/sites/default/files/2011WinterHeadline_1.pdf
12.31.2011
12.11.2011
Man has little memory of cross-Canada run
Published: Dec. 11, 2011 at 5:01 AM
By JOSEPH CHRYSDALE, United Press International
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/12/11/Man-has-little-memory-of-cross-Canada-run/UPI-61791323597660/#ixzz1gfUuV3uB
Trans-Canada runner David McGuire and road manager Melissa Wild slump and relax Dec. 9, 2011, in Victoria, British Columbia, at the completion of an 8-month, 4,500-mile run across Canada to raise awareness of brain injury prevention. Braintrust Canada photo handout.
By JOSEPH CHRYSDALE, United Press International
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/12/11/Man-has-little-memory-of-cross-Canada-run/UPI-61791323597660/#ixzz1gfUuV3uB
Trans-Canada runner David McGuire and road manager Melissa Wild slump and relax Dec. 9, 2011, in Victoria, British Columbia, at the completion of an 8-month, 4,500-mile run across Canada to raise awareness of brain injury prevention. Braintrust Canada photo handout.
After 253 days on the road, brain-injured runner David McGuire has completed daily marathons totaling about 4,500 miles to cross Canada on an awareness mission.
The 38-year-old reached Victoria, British Columbia, to a hero's welcome Friday after setting off from St. John's, Newfoundland, April 1, carrying the message of brain injury prevention.
McGuire was working as a debt collector for a bank six years ago when he suffered a stroke -- or possibly several -- that caused massive bleeding inside his head. Doctors removed a portion of the left side of his skull and froze it for days to allow the swelling to subside while McGuire was put into a medical coma.
When he awoke, he had complete memory loss and was told he would never walk again. However, his mobility and long-term memory slowly returned, although he still has minimal short-term memory. He told UPI that for him, "there's no such thing as a TV rerun."
Because of the memory issue, Braintrust dubbed his project the "Run to Remember."
He and manager Melissa Wild traversed all 10 provinces, during which McGuire spoke directly to about 80,000 people about head injury prevention, specifically about the need for helmets for bicyclists and athletes.
Friday, McGuire was joined in the final leg of the run to the finish line in Victoria's Beacon Hill Park by about a dozen other brain injury survivors.
He told UPI Saturday he wasn't prepared for the crowd and celebration that greeted him at the finish.
"It was so surreal," he said. "I'm just not used to that kind of attention."
Regardless, during his eight months on the road, McGuire did at least 75 media interviews and attracted about 70,000 online and social media impressions during the daily marathons of about 25 miles, run manager Wild said.
Along the way, McGuire said he was heartened by the number of people who would approach him on the roadside to say they'd heard about him through the media. Some offered cash donations while others chose to run alongside him for company.
"After I got out of the hospital all damaged and confused, I was angry at everything and pissed off with everybody, McGuire said. "But after meeting so many people -- strangers -- across Canada who were so, so kind to me and generous, I have to say my faith in people is back."
The run was organized by the Braintrust Canada charity in Kelowna, British Columbia, whose goal is to provide education about preventing head injuries. The secondary mission was to raise money to further education programs, Communications Director Magda Kapp told UPI.
She said there had been hope donations would cover the approximate $150,000 cost of the run, but they fell short by about half. Kapp said she suspects economic conditions hurt donations, but the goals of education and awareness had been a complete success and the trickle-down effect of the run would ensure awareness would spread.
"We certainly still welcome donations for the achievement," she said.
McGuire told UPI in a summer interview the trickle-down effect of his presentations also had a trickle-up factor.
"When I talk to school kids and stress how important helmets are when they're on a bike or a skateboard, I try to hint to them their parents should be doing the same thing," he said.
While he acknowledges his brain injury wasn't the result of injury, McGuire keeps his hair cut very short to show the large, reverse C-shaped scar from his skull surgery as a visual tool in his presentations.
The run was scheduled to wrap up in October, but was delayed by several mishaps, including a bout of food poisoning, a lung infection, foot and leg injuries and bad weather, Wild said.
Meanwhile, McGuire said he wasn't sure what his future held, but restoring a routine with his wife Mandy was the top priority.
His blog and history of the run can be seen at www.runtoremember.com.
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/12/11/Man-has-little-memory-of-cross-Canada-run/UPI-61791323597660/#ixzz1gfUxFldy
12.10.2011
12.09.2011
Brain injury survivor arrives in Victoria after cross-country trip
Ryan Flaherty/News staff Victoria Coun. Marianne Alto declares Dec. 9, A Run To Remember Day, in honour of Dave Maguire, left, and his cross-country run to raise brain injury awareness. Maguire, who sustained a brain injury in 2005 and was told he may never walk again, ran a marathon a day to complete his journey.
Ryan Flaherty/News staff
A group of local brain injury survivors and supporters had a hero's welcome for one of their own Friday, as fellow survivor David McGuire arrived in Victoria following a remarkable journey.
With the support of BrainTrust Canada, a non-profit organization involved in national injury prevention strategies, McGuire set out from St. John's, NL in April and ran a marathon a day unitl he reached Victoria.
His trip, dubbed A Run to Remember, has raised money to create a legacy fund to promote brain injury prevention and develop support strategies for Canadians living with brain injury.
Awaiting him Friday afternoon were members of a brain injury survivors running group organized by the Victoria Brain Injury Society, as well as a handful of VBIS volunteers and staff. The runners met McGuire downtown and ran alongside him for the last two kilometres of his trek, which wound up at Mile 0 on Dallas Road.
One of those runners is Brad Cownden, who last year completed a cross-country trip of his own. Inspired by an aunt who suffered a brain injury 10 years ago, Cownden rode his bicycle across Canada to raise awareness of the condition. He's a big proponent of the benefits that running and cycling can have for brain injury survivors.
"There's research that shows that moderate exercise that is repetitious is really healthy for injury recovery, so something like running, something like cycling is really a positive experience," Cownden said.
An event like this is important for brain injury survivors to see that there's a light at the end of the tunnel, says the society's director of resource development.
"It gives people hope," said Nicole Nelson, who also took part in McGuire's homestretch run. "David was told that he'd never again, and he's run a marathon a day. So that gives clients that we have that hope that they too can get over their hurdles and find new ways of participating in life."
VBIS began its running group this past July, and McGuire said it's fellow survivors like them that provided the inspiration for his journey.
"Everybody here, man, this is the reason why. For all these people," he said.
"It's been fantastic."
http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/135354878.html?mobile=true
David McGuire Runs to Mile 0!
Photograph by: Darren Stone, Times Colonist, Times Colonist
David McGuire, who was told he might not walk again after he suffered a brain injury, waves on Douglas Street with supporters Friday after he completed a run across Canada. Six years ago, the Lower Mainland resident spent nine days in a coma. He set out on his cross-Canada Run to Remember March 31. Since then, he has run a marathon a day, from St. John's, N.L., to Mile 0, raising funds for the non-profit organization BrainTrust Canada.
Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/story.html?id=5841735#ixzz1gfWCM1G8
Last Day!
David has run over 7,800km to reach the final day of his journey. Today he will complete his Run To Remember by running to mile 0 of the Trans Canada Highway in Victoria's Beacon Hill Park at 3:30pm.
Join David for the last 2km starting at the corner of Government and Wharft at 3pm or meet him at mile 0 to celebrate the end of a 8.5 month adventure.
12.08.2011
Brain injury crusader brings message of safety to Nanaimo
http://www.canada.com/Brain+injury+crusader+brings+message+safety+Nanaimo/5828869/story.html
12.07.2011
David speaks to Nanaimo Brain Injury Society
NANAIMO – A deadly crash on Hammond Bay Road in 2006 remains one of the most horrific accidents Nanaimo has ever seen.
A car carrying five high school students spun out of control and crashed, killing three of the teens and leaving two others critically injured.
Today, after a long rehabilitation, one of the survivors is making a new life with the support of the Nanaimo Brain Injury Society. She is drawing inspiration from a man who is on a cross country mission to raise awareness about brain injuries.
Follow Chandler Grieve on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CTVNewsChandler
12.06.2011
Man turns brain injury into cross-country campaign
Man turns brain injury into cross-country campaign
Doctors told David McGuire he’d never walk again following a 2005 stroke that left him in a coma for nine days.
Instead, this summer he ran from St. John, N.L. to Victoria, B.C., as a part of A Run to Remember, a campaign to bring awareness to the invisible disability: brain injury.
At one point doctors had to treat his swollen, bleeding brain by removing part of it and putting it in liquid nitrogen.
“When I left the hospital, I was a different version of me,” he said, adding he struggled with memory and emotional control.
Around 170,000 people a year are affected by brain injuries.
Mayor Gregor Robertson and David McGuire (right) pose for photos Tuesday when McGuire stopped in at Vancouver City Hall to share about his journey with A Run to Remember, a campaign that works to educate people and raise awareness about brain injuries. STEPHANIE IP, 24 HOURS
Brain injury survivor running across Canada to raise awareness
David McGuire’s family was told he may never walk and talk again after a traumatic brain injury in 2005 left him in a coma.
But the 39-year-old overcame the odds and is running across the country to raise awareness about the condition that changed his life.
McGuire doesn’t remember all the details. He was working at a call centre and passed out and was sent home.
A few hours later his girlfriend Mandy, now his wife, came to his house to find a trail of blood and McGuire having a seizure. When doctors opened his skull they discovered his brain had been bleeding for months.
He lapsed into a coma and doctors told his parents he might never wake up and if he did, he wouldn’t be the same man they knew.
However, McGuire did wake up, moved in with his parents in Tsawwassen and started working out and running everywhere.
He decided to seek help from the brain injury society in New West Minister but found it had closed. It left his upset and wondering where people with brain injuries have to go for support.
Shortly afterward, McGuire saw a movie about Terry Fox and decided to follow in Fox’s footsteps, but for a different cause.
“I don’t want people to go through what I went through. It kills families,” he said.
McGuire trek across the country began in St. John’s N.L. in April. He arrives in Nanaimo on Wednesday (Dec. 7) before finishing his cross Canada journey in Victoria Dec. 9, covering 7,230 kilometres.
McGuire is stopping at the Nanaimo Brain Injury Society office, at 285 Prideaux St., at 1:30 p.m., Wednesday. During the visit Nanaimo Mayor John Ruttan will proclaim A Run to Remember Day and people can learn about the services of the society.
McGuire and Melissa Wild, run manager, are spreading awareness in schools and communities about the importance of wearing a helmet to prevent brain injuries and raising money for Brain Trust Canada, an association that offers services to people with brain injuries in the Interior.
“Brain injury doesn’t discriminate,” said Wild. “Prevention is the only cure.”
Helmets are important for prevention. McGuire wants helmets to become like seat belts.
He’s surprised when he goes into schools and asks how many of the children have had a concussion. McGuire said concussions needs to be properly treated and should be called what they are – brain injuries.
Mark Busby, executive director of the Nanaimo Brain Injury Society, said McGuire is brave, courageous and as he crosses the country, is creating conservations among Canadians about brain injury.
“Brain injury has been in the shadows for far too long,” said Busby.
The society has operated in Nanaimo since 1988. It offers a variety of programs including: peer support groups for people suffering from a brain injury and for family and caregivers and Brain Train, a weekly group that meets to improve skills.
The society also provides prevention and education awareness and the Renewing Pathways Centre Clubhouse.
The clubhouse was recently created as a place where people with brain injury can come and feel accepted and understood, and participate in developing skills by volunteering to help run the centre. It is meant to help members build confidence, regain and develop skills, and become more self-sufficient and reach personal goals.
Busby said it’s about social inclusion and an opportunity for people to gain hands-on practical volunteer work experience. The clubhouse is open from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
For more information on the Nanaimo Brain Injury Society or to donate, please go to www.nbis.ca or call 250-753-5600.
For information on the A Run to Remember please go to www.runtoremember.com.
Quick Facts:
Brain injury is the greatest cause of death and disability under 45.
More than 170,000 Canadians get brain injuries each year, about 456 people per day or one every three minutes.
About 90 per cent of brain injuries are preventable.
Facts courtesy of Brain Trust Canada
http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/news/134912188.html
A New West man’s Run to Remember
By Grant Granger - New Westminster News Leader
Published: December 06, 2011 8:00 AM
It’s quite a contrast to the man who is on the final leg of his nearly ninth-month Run to Remember. The 38-year-old New Westminster resident has averaged a marathon a day running across Canada to raise awareness about brain injury prevention.
And all because his brain blew up on him.
McGuire wasn’t feeling well at work one day and his boss sent him home.
Finally doctors thought he might have a brain bleed so they opened him up. Seven days later he awoke from his surgically induced coma calling his now-wife Mandy by a previous girlfriend’s name, and not even knowing who his parents were.
To allow for the swelling to subside, the doctors left the back left side of his skull exposed. That meant he had to sleep on his right side and he wasn’t allowed to roll over. “I thought it was the coolest thing in the world that I could touch my brain.”
His old life began to crumble. He had been subletting an apartment, and while he was in hospital the sale on it went through. To make matters worse, his job was outsourced. He was out of a home and out of work, so went to live at his parents’ place in Tsawwassen, and they had just downsized.
“I had to learn everything all over again,” said McGuire, who gave this explanation of what he goes through on his website.
“It takes everything I have to remember to put on shoes, plan a run, take my water, set my training watch, and find my way back home. Every time I go out I am on my own. I have no mental map that guides me. I have no memory of where I am, or mental link to where I am going. It is a scary thing, a huge thing ... I depend on technology and my family to get me to my destination, get me home, and keep me safe.”
Although they had bought a home together, it was a difficult time for Mandy because she had to get to know the new David McGuire. On top of that she had had to work several jobs to pay the mortgage.
A turning point for McGuire was a big argument they had. “I want to be your wife and not your caretaker,” she told him.
That got him going.
It wasn’t easy, though. He had a difficult time getting help and making sense of the social security system. It bothered him that it made more sense to sit around collecting welfare than to work. He knew a brain injury association had an office nearby so he walked over there only to find out it had been shut down.
“My frustration came out. I wanted to scream and yell because of the lack of services out there,” said McGuire. “I was dealing with a lot of negative people.”
To relieve those frustrations he began running. And he hasn’t stopped.
His wife had a connection with a specialty footwear store in Vancouver, so he went to work there. Every morning he’d lace up his shoes and run 21 kilometres to the West Broadway outlet, and then run back after work.
“I don’t know what the switch was. It was one thing I could do by myself. I didn’t need somebody to drive me there,” said McGuire.
He was helped by the fact concussions had become a hot issue in the media, particularly the one suffered by hockey’s biggest superstar.
“The timing was right not only because of Sidney Crosby, but brain injury prevention has been on everyone’s minds recently. The side benefit of that is it’s getting people to talk,” said McGuire.
The cross-country trek had many trials and tribulations.
“I had no idea what real weather is like,” he said. “Ontario was huge. Ontario was never ending.”
Along the way he got food poisoning and a lung infection. He also developed knee and foot problems. One foot throbbed so much he couldn’t sleep. But pride prevented him from stopping.
“I’m so lucky. There are so many people that can’t do this. I had this incredible opportunity. If I help one person avoid a brain injury it’ll have been worth it. I know that sounds cheezy, but it’s true,” McGuire said.
After enduring the cold of Rogers Pass and the Coquihalla Highway, spotting the Pattullo Bridge last Thursday was a welcome sight.
“I know where I am in the world again,” said McGuire. “My internal GPS is gone, but I know where I am now.”
Run to Remember, which at last report had raised $40,000 in cash, wraps up this weekend in Victoria.
“My wife wants me to get a real job,” said McGuire with a smile that seems ever-present. “How do you put running across Canada on a resume? What have you been doing [career-wise] in the last nine months?”
While making his presentation at the Quay, McGuire forgot the name of his speech pathologist. His short-term memory loss can serve as a good excuse not to remember names or dates. But his wife won’t give him a break when it comes to their anniversary since they got married on 08-08-08.
“She said, ‘Not a chance there buddy,’ “ laughed McGuire.
12.05.2011
'A Run to Remember'
'A Run to Remember'
Frustrated with the lack of support groups for brain injury patients, Vancouver's David McGuire has taken matters into his own hands.
A brain injury patient himself, McGuire has spent the past eight months running across Canada on his "A Run to Remember" campaign to raise awareness of the disability and to educate youth on how to prevent it.
Every three minutes someone in North America has a brain injury, and 90 per cent of traumatic brain injuries can be prevented. McGuire wants to get the message of head safety out to as many people as possible.
Partnering with BrainTrust Canada, he had already ran more than 7,000 kilometers when he stopped in Langley on Dec. 2.
"I was a little bit disgruntled before I began the run. One of the reasons I started this was out of frustration for the social service system. That was really frustrating and I just wanted to scream and yell that there is something wrong with this place," McGuire said.
"But my faith in humanity has definitely come back with special moments and people we have met along the way."
McGuire's passion for raising awareness of brain injuries stems from an incident he had in 2005. He was 32 years old and began noticing that he didn't feel "normal" anymore.
"My behaviour was changing. I would cry at Judge Judy or start freaking out for no reason. Something was wrong," he said.
He passed out at work and was put on sick leave. It was while he was relaxing at home that the major event occurred.
"I was sitting at home watching TV and my TV went on the fritz," he recalled. "This caused me to freak out so I phoned my girlfriend at the time (now his wife) and said 'I can't watch TV, I can't go to work, I don't know what's going on.'"
She suggested McGuire have a bath instead. This is the last thing he remembers.
"I either lost consciousness and fell in the bath which caused the brain bleeding or my brain was bleeding and it caused me to lose consciousness and slip," he said.
McGuire spent nine days in a coma and woke up with no memory of what happened or any memory of who his family was.
Part of his skull was removed to reduce swelling and it was discovered that his brain had been bleeding for a long period of time, which was causing his behavioral changes.
He wasn't expected to come out of the coma, let alone walk or talk again. He defied them all.
Still, McGuire went through a period of depression and frustration after being discharged from the hospital.
"I was feeling really sorry for myself at how hard life is for me," he said.
Part of the struggle was making people understand how he was disabled. Simple tasks like ordering a coffee at Starbucks were a challenge because of his short term memory loss.
McGuire says brain injuries are often referred to as the "hidden disease" because patients look healthy on the outside but struggle on the inside.
"The weird thing about having short term memory loss is that I look at pictures and I still think I'm 32, even though I am almost 40. When I look in the mirror I don't recognize that person because I don't remember aging."
He also doesn't remember his wedding in Hawaii in August 2008.
"When I look at the photos I don't have a memory of it. I know that's my wife and that's me but I don't have any actual memories. I love photos because it's a way to go back and visit those moments."
It wasn't until McGuire discovered his local brain injury centre had closed down due to lack of funding that his spirits began to change.
"I began to wonder where all of the people who are more severely disabled than I am go. I looked up the stats and most of them end up either homeless, in prison or in a care facility," he said.
"There was a huge disconnect between getting out of the hospital and back into a productive society."
McGuire felt inspired to try and make a difference and by 2009 he was making contact with BrainTrust Canada to organize a nation wide awareness run.
Melissa Wild of BrainTrust Canada accompanied McGuire on the journey. For her, the most memorable cities they visited were the places with the most memorable people.
"The messages we have brought out to some of the kids have really made a difference," she said.
"They'll be sitting there listening to David's presentation and one of them will say 'I'm going to go home and tell my daddy to put his helmet on.' That's what I want to hear. It's not just about getting the kids to put on their helmets, its about getting the parents to as well."
McGuire recalls one of the most powerful moments on the trip was when a young girl in the audience at an elementary school asked him a very innocent, yet difficult question.
"When we opened up for questions I had this one girl put her hand up and ask, 'do you like the old you better than the new you?' That stuck with me. I started thinking about it a lot. I do more now and I have a greater respect for life. I have much more empathy than I had before.
"This journey has been a bucket list and a way for me to say I have done something now."
After facing 180 km winds, whiteout conditions, food poisoning and muscle seizures, McGuire finally finishes his journey in Victoria on Dec. 9.
After he completes the run he wants to devote his time to helping out his wife who is working multiple jobs to make up for his absence.
"I am technically unemployable. I can work a part time job but the family has to pick up for what I can't do. I watch [my wife] exhaust herself and it kills me because I can't do anything," he said.
"I told her after this it's all her."
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