Whether at home or out in the community, accessibility is still an issue for those who live life from a wheelchair. It’s a fact to which local organizations and resident Richard Shute are drawing attention.
Carlson Community Club recently donated a stairlift, a chair device to lift people up and down stairs, to Shute. The club had originally intended to use the lift for its building on Joyce Avenue, but when organizers determined it would not work, the lift became an item Shute said he would be interested in purchasing. Up until then Shute had been hauling himself up and down his stairs at home using his arms. Club president Jay Yule, administrator Al Drummond and others decided to donate the chair to Shute as part of their work as a charitable organization.
“We saw it as a great opportunity to help out,” said Yule. “We’re always looking for different things to support in the community and all of a sudden this came forward. We were happy to know that it was going to great use and staying in the community.”
Shute, who lost the use of his legs as a result of a surgical incident in 1989, is the kind of person who isn’t about to let a little thing like being paralyzed stop him from doing things on his own. For instance he, with help from his wife, installed the stairlift at home himself. He installed it while renovating his entire house, again doing everything himself, except the heavy lifting for which he has two strong sons to help him.
Walking into Shute’s house, it’s impressive to know that this man, who was dealt a bad hand and who has to do all his work sitting either on the floor or in a wheelchair, has accomplished so much. But a completely renovated house is just the start of it. Shute is also a chainsaw carver, and a former international wheelchair basketball player who still holds a world ranking. He also once raced sailboats with former Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan. Plus, he’s a graphic designer. The list goes on.
“I’m go, go, go. I’m nonstop. If I’m not hurting by the end of the day I don’t feel like I did enough work,” said Shute. “Unless my muscles are burning then I didn’t put in a good day’s work.”
To help return the kindness that Carlson Community Club showed him with the donation of the stairlift, Shute plans to donate a chainsaw carving of an eagle that the club will be able to auction off as a fundraiser.
Shute talks fast and excitedly, with his still noticeably strong Newfoundland accent, as he relates his many adventures and undertakings.
In the early to mid 1990s Shute played wheelchair basketball at the provincial, national and international levels. He practiced with Team Canada at one point and competed in the Spitfire Challenge world tournament. He played while living in Japan too, as the first Caucasian on a Japanese national team, and is still an honorary member of the Hachioji Killers. Although Shute hasn’t played officially since 1996 he is still ranked in the top 200 in the world.
Shute started sailing in Vancouver with Disabled Sailing Association of British Columbia, founded by Sullivan. Sullivan invited Shute from Newfoundland to come and join the team after Shute tried out while visiting family in BC. Shute competed in the 1992 Mobility Cup national event and came in sixth place, beaten narrowly for fifth by Sullivan himself.
Around 1997 Shute decided he needed to slow down on the competitive sports as it started to take a toll on his body. Instead, Shute moved to Japan, where he spent three months testing out a hand-peddled 18-speed wheelchair bicycle he had recently designed. The bike snapped onto a wheelchair and Shute put it through its paces by cycling from Hachioji to Tokyo and back in one day for a distance of around 80 kilometres.
Shute did slow down about three years ago, but not because he wanted to. He had moved first to Texada Island and then to Powell River where he started to make a name for himself as a chainsaw carver. While receiving medical attention after tearing a muscle in his arm, doctors discovered that Shute had a 13.5-inch blood clot in his arm from overworking his upper body over the years. The fact that doctors found the clot when they did most likely saved Shute’s life.
“Six weeks later I was out putting up chain-link fence for my wife in the backyard,” Shute said with a laugh. “The doctors were absolutely amazed by my recovery.”
Even Shute, with all of his accomplishments, still has problems with accessibility in his daily life and is working toward drawing more attention to the issue. While still under advice to stay away from the chainsaw, Shute is putting his energy toward working with Powell River Mobility Opportunities Society (PRMOS) to organize a fundraising event on August 6.
The Garage Sale and Access-Ability Awareness Day, taking place at Grief Point Elementary School, will be a family-fun day to raise awareness of accessibility in Powell River and raise funds to purchase a TrailRider, an off-road wheelchair, for the community. The main fundraiser at the event will be a giant garage sale featuring items people have donated for the cause. A silent auction will also raise money for PRMOS and include the big ticket item of a three-day, two-night tour of Desolation Sound aboard a 48-foot private yacht.
A fun wheelchair obstacle course will be set up for people to try their hand at getting around in a chair and Powell River Ravens wheelchair basketball team will give a demonstration. Organizers are also currently contacting notable locals, including Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons, to take on a wheelchair challenge, where they will have a task to complete in the community while in a wheelchair. The idea is to highlight accessibility issues and bring awareness to what it’s like to navigate the world with a disability.
“You can go into a restaurant and everything is fine, you go sit down and eat,” said Shute, “but when you have to go to the washroom you might have to go to McDonald’s up the road. There’s a lot of accessibility issues in town.”
