Olympic torch relay caps year for comeback teen
By Louise Kinross
When Gavin White carries the Olympic torch in December, it will cap an astonishing year in which the 17-year-old relearned to walk and run after a life-threatening illness left him paralyzed and on life-support.
“Not many people get to take their first steps twice,” says the Grade 12 student, recalling the seven months he spent at Bloorview learning how to roll over, sit up, stand and finally walk.
The experience has given him a new urgency to go after his dreams, he says. “I want to get the most out of life that I can.”
In August of 2008, Gavin’s arms and legs became numb and weak and he began falling down.
Six weeks later he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome: his immune system was attacking the nerves that carry signals between his brain and body. Gavin spent four months in an acute-care hospital where the weakness moved to his breathing muscles, causing his lungs to collapse. Doctors said it was the most severe case they’d seen. Although most people fully recover from the syndrome, it can take years.
“When I arrived at Bloorview in January, I couldn’t move, walk or feed myself,” Gavin says. Rehab involved intensive stretching and strengthening exercises in physical and occupational therapy to regain the abilities he’d lost.
While at Bloorview, Gavin – an avid hockey player and cyclist – says he never questioned why the syndrome struck, felt sorry for himself, or doubted he’d recover.
“I had a ‘bucket list’ of things I wanted to do before I die, so I kept putting things on the list,” he says. With a map on his hospital room bulletin board, he plotted out with pins where he’d go on his “Europe trip,” then began plans for backpacking in South America. Other items on the list included climbing Mount Everest, planting trees and graduating high school. “It gave me something to look forward to. I was making the list a goal to get to when I get better.”
Gavin earned the nickname “child whisperer” for his ability to soothe young patients and coax them from their rooms to the Bloorview School. He also kept his mind busy by planning outings for other teenagers hospitalized at Bloorview, working with recreation therapists to arrange trips to the museum, hockey games, movies and the mall.
Gavin was using a wheelchair and cane when asked if he’d carry the Olympic torch in June. “Running wasn’t something we were even thinking about. But in the back of my mind, I thought, ‘it’s another goal.’ I’m grateful to the Royal Bank of Canada for giving me this opportunity,” he says, noting RBC and Coke are sponsoring the relay. He accepted and immediately texted his mom Brenda: “Mom this is so awesome!”
When he carries the torch in Guelph, Ont. – near his hometown Elora – Gavin says it will signify the end of his horrific illness. “One year ago I was lying in bed and couldn’t move. When I carry the torch, my journey with Guillain-Barre is over.”
Then it’s time to start ticking other adventures off the bucket list.
