The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

[9‘78 an inconvenience By [SABELOEHM Bryan Crispin. 26. is one of the top scorers in the Hanover Men's Industrial Hockey League this season. in December he was the fourth highest scorer in the 45 man league. and as ofJan. 23 he was filth. Three and a half years ago it seemed that Bryan's hockey- playlng daysrnight be over. On July 9, 1w", his right leg was badly mangled in the power take-off of a tractor. As a result of the injuryI his leg was am- pulnted below the knee. Bryan‘s three1oves in life, to ‘ that point. were his fiancee Margaret Kerkhofi. farming and hockey AN EARLY START He learned to skate when he was four years old. His lather operated an arena in Wingham and Bryan had all the free ice time he wanted. By the time he was five years old. he could ‘ skate well backwards Although an excellent skater. he did not begin playing organized hockey until '1971 when he joined the Hanover Twins of the Hanover Recreation League. He con- tinued to play with the Twins until last year when the team iolded. When he first began playing organized hockey. he had to learn the [undamenlals such as forechecking and back- checking. In his second year he won the trophy for the most improved player in the league. This year he plays twice a week. at ten wing or centre. for the league-leading Karn’a Rooting. Asked how he copes with his handicap. his answer was} prompt. "I don‘t think oi it as a handicap. It's just an in- convenience!" Bryan owns and operates a 100 acre farm about two miles south west of Hanover where he raises beef cattle and some. iorage crops. A FREAK ACCIDENT Bryan describes the accident as a “freak accident." He stepped on the tractor's draw bar to check the wagon. He had ~ihesilo. Bryan believes his foot been doing this six days a week i for the preceding two weeksl This time his foot slipped. and ‘ his trouser leg caught in the power takeoff connection. The connection was being used to! activate the self-unloading wagon tilled with cut bay for slipped on damp hay on the draw har ‘ Three quarters of an hourl later he was on the operating table at the hospital A month later he was ad- mitted to the Workmen's Compensation Board Hospital in Downsview. a suburb of Toronto, ‘ He was titted with an ar-‘ tificial leg and began walking, first using crutches and later a i i‘ cane. He returned home in Sep- tember. Six weeks later he returned to Downsview for additional therapy and retitting of the artificial limb. He had nine different artiiiCial legs over the next two years. He says he also received therapy at Hanover and' District Hospital. 3 INJURED GOOD ANKLE beaming to walk with an artllicial leg was not easy. in November he tell and tore the ligaments in his “good ankle." He wears a leather anklet on the injured ankle for extra support. i That same month. an- couraged by the other hockey players. he began skating again. The biggest problem. he says. was getting the skate to fit theartificial leg. He didn‘t have to alter the skate. but he only laces the first four eyelets. He iound that this gives him i greater ankle mobility. "Learning to skate again was mainly a matter of getting back i into shape," he said. By January he was back playing tor the Twins. "It was i real hard work at first," Bryan admits. "[ wasn't very good at it." He had to learn to turn; even now he finds it easier to turn to the left. rather than to the right. When playing left- wing. his team-melee try to throw passes to him to the left side. . i Bryan gets checked just as hard as any other player. At a rugged exhibition game in l Chatsworth. he got a “real roughing up." . He has never been out of a i game because of his leg but has had other injuries. Last year he missed five weeks with badly torn chest muscles. However. ‘ he has had to make repairs in the middle of a game. Once a leather strap broke and he fixed it with a shoe lace. SOME PROBLEMS l Skating is easier for him than i walking. "ii i could do rny‘ chores around the farm on . skates. it would be a lot easier." ‘ he says. He cannot run. and i really deep snow is a problem. Climbing a ladder is also dit- ficull. but he manages to climb ‘ a 70 ft. silo ladder twice a day during the haying season. “it just takes me a little longer . than most people." he said. He uses a snowmobile to get ‘ to his work in winter. and drives his tractor or car back and forth to his work in sum-1g mer. He also operates a motorcycle. '13 Workmen's Compensation ard provided Bryan with a leit foot acv celerator and hand dimmer switch for his can-Thin device i iolds down so that regular controls can be used. He now drives using the right pedal. ‘ THE BUSY SEASON Since the beginning of the; new year he has been getting‘ his machinery ready for the coming growing season. As} soon as the land is ready. hel will begin cultivating and seeding. ' Bryan farmed for a numberl of years with his grandlather and has been farming on his own tor the past three years He has 65 head of beef cattle to look after. as well as his crops oi. grain. corn and hay. He is also in his fifth year of employment with J.H. Fleming Ltd. where he works from April to November as a machine operator and mechanic it was while working on the Fleming farm that his accident hap- pened Bryan and Margaret were married a year after his ac~ cident. Margaret works [our days a week at the Hanover Medical Centre On her tree days she helps Bryan with the chores on their [arm Bryan figures he could walk \nlli anyman for live hours and keep up. He tries lo vary his work so that he spends a few hours walking. and then the next several hours on the machinery He remembers one (Ii his grandfather's sayings. "What you don't do with your head. you must do with your leei." in the spring. Bryan will be working from 8:00 am. until ltl:0(l p m’. inr six to eight consecutive weeks 'l‘hal is a long workday [or a hnndlcappi-d man But then. as Brynn says. Ii is not a handicap - Jusl on lnCllllVE‘nll'llL‘E. Pic‘l'ure on page. lb.