When Pat Harris suffered a crippling injury at age 10 that left him without the use of his legs, there was no such thing as the Spinal Cord Injury Resource Centre.
It was 1966, and when a riverbank caved in on him that day near Chase, there was no 911 phone service, and no ambulance service to take him to hospital in Kamloops. He rode in the back of a station wagon.
And when Harris was ready to start learning how to get on with the rest of his life as a paraplegic, there was no G.F. Strong acute spinal cord rehabilitation centre in Vancouver to teach him skills to help him cope with his loss of mobility, and the B.C. Paraplegic Association (BCPA) did not exist.
The province has certainly come a long way since then in providing more services to the more than 12,000 B.C. residents who have suffered spinal cord injuries.
Next week, people will get their first look at the Prince George Spinal Cord Injury Resource Centre when it opens its doors to the public on Wednesday, Jan. 25 for an open house from noon to 5 p.m.
"Over the last two years the B.C. Paraplegic Association decided to change its focus to more peer-centred programming so that we can really focus on people helping people," said Harris, the information services manager of the BCPA.
"The resource centre is for anybody with a spinal cord injury or related physical disabilities and their families and it gives them a place to go for information and advice from people with experience with spinal cord injuries.
"It's a place to go that's welcome and friendly -- we want it to be like your living room."
The resource centre provides visitors web conferencing areas equipped with smart technology and computer stations geared to enhance accessibility using sip and puff mouth sensors and voice-actuated controls.
"Technology has changed so much," said Harris. "Back when I was injured you could get any wheelchair you wanted, as long as it was an Everest & Jennings hospital chair that was 16 inches wide. That was it, one size fits all."
More than 12,000 people in B.C. are living with spinal cord injuries. The Prince George office of the BCPA is the provincial information call centre for people around the province to answer frequently-asked questions such as where to go to get funding and how to get hand-controls installed in a vehicle.
The resource centre hosts telehealth conference for people to discuss health topics and provides information on travel destinations that provide wheelchair access to paraplegics and connects people with their peers.
"Events like our Christmas party or summer barbecue provide an opportunity for people to get together and just share stories, what works and what doesn't, and just network with each other," said Harris.
"People with disabilities tend to be more isolated than others and we want to get them involved to start building their own networks and building social connections. The notion around that is to help people understand and explore the opportunities around them," said Harris. "Just because you have a disability doesn't mean you are limited. You can still participate in some real exciting events."
Harris, 56, hasn't let his disability get in the way of him having an active life. He's been a pioneer establishing wheelchair activities in Prince George, especially wheelchair basketball, a sport he played competitively for 30 years. His son Avril, who is able-bodied, plays for the B.C. men's provincial team.
Harris organizes travel tourism and recreation activities for paraplegics like ATV riding, skydiving and bungee cord jumping. Harris took the plunge himself a few years ago attached to a cord from a bridge over the Cheakamus River near Whistler, but he wasn't about to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.
"I drew the line at that one, I was just scared," laughed Harris. "At least with a bungee jump, you're still tied to something."
