WINNIPEG – Sean Gilmour grew up with the same dream many Canadian kids have.
“You always want to win the Stanley Cup … play for your team,” said Gilmour.
He played competitive hockey for years, until one night changed his life.
“I was on my way home, I was designated driver that night,” said Gilmour. “I fell asleep, drifted off, went into a ditch … left me paralyzed from the hips down.”
But he refused to let his passion for hockey get benched.
“What got me back into my life and every day was sports,” said Gilmour.
Through sledge hockey his dreams were put back on the ice, in a new way.
Gilmour made history in 2011, becoming the first Manitoba sledge hockey player to earn a spot on Canada’s national development team. He has since been selected every year and is now inspiring other players, like Oakbank’s Jonathan Derry.
“The major push was when Sean was always getting the invites to go play with Hockey Canada,” said Derry. “It was like ok, I need to step up my game a little bit more so I can basically be with him this time.”
Both Gilmour and Derry are training for a spot on the national team for the upcoming Paralympic Winter Games in Korea.
“It’d be easy to just fold up the tent and say ‘OK, well that’s it,’ ” said Bill Muloin from the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities’ grassroots sledge hockey program. “But in order for them to keep persevering in life, they have to have that motivational drive, they have to say, ‘You know what? I’m going to overcome these barriers.’ “
Comments