At a young age, Tamara Gordon developed a passion for sports. She played everything from soccer to volleyball to track and field, but her true passion was basketball.
“I wanted to be a basketball player professionally and I played for both my city and for my high school at the time, and just the Sunday before my accident scouts came and spoke to my mom about me possibly playing for them in the states once I graduated,” Gordon said.
In 2002 at the age of 16, Gordon sustained a spinal cord injury during a high school skiing accident.
“I believe I hit a tree,” Gordon recalled. “And I’m in a wheelchair now.”
The accident left her paralyzed from the waist down with partial paralysis of her left arm. Yet against all odds, Gordon continued to follow her dreams and live her life to the fullest.
“A lot of people thought I’d fall apart. A lot of people expected me to be in tears all the time and that wasn’t the case,” Gordon said. “I’m still the same Tammy.”
Gordon’s strong devotion for helping others made it easy for her to create the Tamara Gordon Foundation.
“What we aim to do is to give scholarships to students with physical disabilities so that they can go to college or university within Ontario,” said Gordon.
Gordon’s mother, Marcia Gordon is the executive director of the foundation.
“My daughter has taught me to be strong, to be positive, and to take into consideration that all things are possible, if we put our mind to it,” Marcia said.
Tamara’s friend and foundation board member Nancy Xia met her in a rehabilitation hospital for people with spinal injuries.
“I felt at the time it was really difficult for me to live with my disabilities and just to deal with all the changes in my life. But every time I saw Tamara, she was just full of positive energy, so she really empowered me,” Xia said.
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