At age 9, I had an ischemic stroke: “MCA occlusion with infarction.” I was completely paralyzed on my dominant left side, my parents were told I might never walk or speak again, and my siblings were left alone in a hotel room while I was rushed to the hospital. I remember waking up after my stroke and breaking down. I could not understand why this had happened to me, but staying that way was never an option. The ONLY choice was getting better. I had all these dreams for my life, dreams that required the “Active Syd” in my mind.

Slowly and surely, things got better. Now I can do any activity I put my mind to, often with some creative modifications. However, every day since my stroke and every facet of my life has been impacted. I require frequent Botox injections to deal with spasticity, must wear an AFO when walking far distances, and partake in daily trips to the gym for physiotherapy.

I also grew up in a rural community, a hamlet of 300 people, and so doing my physio was challenging. Still, I fell in love with the natural world there. I thought that I wanted to be a biologist and so I went off to university. I was the only student from my Grade 9 class to do so. As university went on, I became unsure of what I really wanted. I enrolled in the Peter Lougheed Leadership College and found immense friendship and confidence in who I was. While there, I was also able to connect with a researcher who would later supervise my masters degree. He was a professor in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine.

By the time my MSc finished, I could no longer deny what I was. My whole life, my doctors were encouraging me to pursue a medical degree. However, I did not want to entertain it; my whole life would not be defined by my disability. I was trying to push my disability away.

A bit older now, I’m able to look back on my life and my choices. I see that my stroke, rural upbringing, university schooling, and current research job in orthopedics have all positioned me to be an amazing doctor. Further, it fits my desire to be creative and nimble while in service of others. I would love to be a psychiatrist or rural physician but hope to do research in either role.

Up until this past year, I had the same physiatrist. He just retired, but he was my compass for how I was managing my disability. Growing up, no one had a disability like me, and he was the only person I could trust to let me know how I was really doing. I want to be that for someone else and show them that life will be defined by the experiences you have, but that you are always more than what happens to you.