SALISBURY, N.B. – Trevor Carter has learned that life can land you a few splinters. His came almost four years ago while at work.
“I took a wrong step coming off of my machine and I just jarred my back the wrong way and slipped a disk and broke a little pieces of the bone,” he said.
Carter had to undergo back surgery, was unable to work and forced to go on worker’s compensation. His common-law wife, Sabrina Henderson, said she was beside herself with worry.
“I didn’t know what to do with a little one at home. It wasn’t enough to pay the bills,” she said.
“One of the places they sent me to do physio had a little woodshop out back and that was part of their therapy process,” Carter said.
So he signed up, never dreaming it would unlock a passion. It took time and lots of practice, but eventually Carter started carving out a new part-time career as he worked through the pain.
“It keeps me active, the more I move the more I do things the better I feel,” he said. “As soon as I posted a couple of pictures on Facebook everybody wanted this one and everybody wanted that one and it just kinda exploded from there.”
Now he and Sabrina work together in the family garage filling special orders all the way to Ontario. Most are carvings with a rustic and weathered look.
“It’s like crazy busy,” she said.
The couple is able to laugh more these days. Since Trevor took up woodworking, much of his pain has whittled away. He’s even been able to return to work at his regular job on lighter duty.
“Before I started all of this it was terrible and the more I do this now the more I go and the longer I go, the better I feel,” he said.
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