BEACONSFIELD – Jim Davis started playing tennis two decades ago, but he had to completely relearn the sport after a cancer left him in a wheelchair.
Now in his fifties, Davis has been a paraplegic for three years.
It was the end of a long decline that started in 2005, he said.
“I ended up with a tumour in my spinal cord at age 42.”
Doctors told Davis they could keep the tumour from growing by treating it with radiation, but they couldn’t remove it.
The West Island resident said he all but gave up – until he had a chance encounter with a Paralympian who lived in his neighbourhood.
“I spent about the first two years feeling really sorry for myself,” Davis said.
Then, his athletic neighbour suggested he take up tennis.
“I didn’t know people in wheelchairs did that,” he told Global News.
His friend and tennis partner Judy Cheney said she also learned how to play the game better – and Davis still has skills that amaze her.
“He’s got a backhand, a wicked backhand,” she said, adding that she remembers when he first asked to to play.
“I said, you can play tennis?”
She agreed to play with him anyway.
“And I said fine,” she said.
“You get the chair, and I’ll play tennis with you. And that was the beginning.”
Davis said playing tennis has opened up an entirely new world to him – one without boundaries.
His next frontier?
“I want to jump out of an airplane,” he said.
“I don’t know if it’s possible yet, but we’ll see.”
Comments