McGuire travels through Southwest during A Run To Remember

Published on October 24, 2011

With little fanfare, David McGuire is nearly seven full months into a cross Canada run to raise awareness of the plight of individuals living the rest of their lives with brain injuries

McGuire, who suffered a brain injury in 2005, has completed the Saskatchewan portion of his cross country A Run To Remember, where he is running a marathon a day for brain injury awareness and fundraising. He began his effort in the Maritimes on April 1, and he anticipates finishing the trip by mid November.

He was in Swift Current on Oct. 14 to receive a special proclamation from the city before completing the Saskatchewan portion of his run on Oct. 20.

McGuire has been hampered by short term memory problems following a brain injury which damaged his temporal lobe. This permanent damage has impacted his short term memory, so his recall of information has been impacted. It also robbed him of his precious memories of past events, and he can not recall the specifics of many day to day activities.

"Information goes in I just can't pull it out when I want it to come out. If it's an old, established memory, like something that I learnt before my injury, I'm generally O.K. If I can relate it to something that I've done in the past I'm O.K. But for me to learn a new task it doesn't stick anymore," he said during his stop in Swift Current.

While not an athlete before his brain injury, he is passionate about not being on the sidelines and accepting things as they are.

"I got really pissed off at being told what I could or could not do," he said, noting that at the age of 35 he found himself having to be driven everywhere, he is unable to live alone, and he was not trusted to drive or cook or even walk.

"It really sucked to have a head injury. I'm considered high functioning, and if it sucks this much for me, what's it like for that guy who had a terrible car crash that is going to be a vegetable for the rest of his life. There's no resources out there. And that's sort of what stuck me really hard."

He has channeled those emotions and turned them into enthusiasm for bringing awareness to brain injuries and encouraging people to prevent injuries through good decision making. He pointed out that 175,000 Canadians receive some form of brain injury every year, and youth are at the highest risk for brain injuries.

"So if 90 per cent of brain injuries can be avoided by putting on a helmet - it's like a seat belt in a car, you just do it."

"Why would anybody take that risk knowing now what I know."

"If I can get one kid to put on a helmet we're good."

McGuire summed up the Saskatchewan portion of his run in three words, "Flat and windy", he laughed without hesitation.

"It's my first time being to the prairies. It's beautiful. The sunsets are remarkable...you can see in every direction and the colours are amazing."

"What sticks to me are extremes," he said. "So I remember being in Newfoundland and running up this hill that was probably about the size of Saskatchewan itself. These aren't hills here. I was running up this hill that what seemed like for a day and it was whiteout conditions."

Additional information on the run is available by visiting www.runtoremember.com.


http://www.swbooster.com/Living/Well-being/2011-10-24/article-2785309/McGuire-travels-through-Southwest-during-A-Run-To-Remember/1