Afghanistan vet back in fighting shape for Invictus Games
CBC
A broken neck, a traumatic brain injury, and multiple herniated discs in his back: those are the physical injuries that Patrick Gordon sustained after he was injured by an improvised explosive device while serving with the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan.
The tank he was in backed over a bomb. Gordon suffered injuries that have never healed.
The army sergeant was given a medical release in 2016. Since then, he's had to work through mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, severe anxiety and depression.
But he's battled back and now he's gearing up to compete in the 2023 Invictus Games this month.
"When I left the Canadian Armed forces, I was about 300 pounds. I was an alcoholic, and I was struggling," said Gordon at his home in Rothesay.
"My contingency plan was to take my life.
"It was essentially like a compass was inside of me spinning, and I had no direction or anywhere to put my energy," said Gordon.
But Gordon didn't give up. Instead, he started working on a charity and on himself.
First he got sober. It's been six years without a drink now, although he admits there were multiple times he failed, starting out.
He said the initial months of the COVID-19 lockdowns were especially difficult when, it seemed like every one around him was drinking much more. But it was during that time he noticed kids, who relied on lunch programs, were going hungry while attending school remotely.
Over the last two years he says his charity, Operation: Feed, has provided close to 100,000 meals to Saint John-area children.
Gordon matched his charity goals with his workout goal. After shedding more than 100 pounds, he's now in fantastic shape.
He's ready to compete in multiple events, including running several track distances, wheelchair basketball, rowing and table tennis, when the games kick off on Sept. 9 in Dusseldorf, Germany.
He's excited to represent Canada again on the world stage.
Aggressive patients and lack of security are making nurses feel unsafe in a rural Western Manitoba emergency union, says the Manitoba Nurses Union.
Saskatoon resident Delynne Bortis knew her commute to work Tuesday morning would be particularly difficult.
WARNING: This story contains details of abuse and intimate partner violence:
The amount of money it takes for people to earn a living wage has increased across the province, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The new owner of Ontario steelmaker Stelco says his company "will not disappoint the people of Hamilton and Nanticoke," where the business's major facilities are based.
A Winnipegger is warning others about an intricate scam she says she almost fell for.
Fort William First Nation is opposing a planned redevelopment of the Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) 117 year old Kakabeka Falls Generating Station, which is located in their traditional territory.
A building that sits at the corner of Sussex Street and Brunswick Avenue has had many lives over the last century — being a church, a school and offices. Now it's set to become housing, at a time when the city sorely needs it.
A Waterloo, Ont., elementary school principal will be sentenced in the new year after pleading guilty to child sexual exploitation charges following a joint investigation that involved the London, Toronto and Waterloo police services.
Students at UPEI have let their student union know what they want from the province this fiscal year, and those priorities are reflected in a 2024-2025 advocacy document brought to the legislature on Wednesday.
Larger communities in the N.W.T. will soon see a boost in their territorial funding to maintain infrastructure and deliver services — like water and waste management — but the increase still falls short of what communities need.