If you’re going to play roller derby, you’d better be strong, fast and ready to take a hit.
“You’ve got to roll with the flow and deal with it,” said local derby girl Julie Barr, a.k.a. Sheila Hurt-U.
But Barr isn’t talking about roller derby.
She’s talking about the life-threatening bacterial infection that forced the amputation of her left leg, and will soon see her lose some of her remaining toes and fingers as well.
“You can’t wallow in self-pity – it doesn’t help you,” said the mom of two, who will no longer be able to skate with her team, Chilliwack’s VooDoo Derby Dollz. “It doesn’t change the fact that you lost a leg or will be losing your fingers, so you might as well embrace it, deal with it, learn how to manage and cope with it.”
On Nov. 17, the 36-year-old Abbotsford woman was admitted to hospital after contracting an aggressive group A streptococcal infection that forced her onto life support for two weeks just before Christmas.
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She was treated with medication that caused her extremities to lose circulation, and in December, doctors were forced to amputate her left leg mid-calf. The toes on her right foot and fingertips on her left hand are now blackened and will soon either rot off or be amputated.
Her kidneys, however, are now in better shape after undergoing dialysis, but her bladder is still being monitored after a recent burst.
“At the beginning, I didn’t know what happened,” Barr recalled after being checked into intensive care.
“They took me off the ventilator and I just saw my black fingers and I couldn’t stop looking at them. I just kept thinking, ‘Are my kids OK? Is my family OK?'”
Barr’s husband Mike has been at the hospital every day since she was admitted. The pair were married in 1998. They’re now the proud parents of two girls: Mackenzie, 10, and Hayley, 5.
“They’ve been all right. They’ve been missing her and wishing mom was home because she hasn’t been home for eight weeks,” he said.
“It’s overwhelming … but she’s a fighter and she keeps on fighting all the time.”
Also fighting for Barr is her team.
The VooDoo Derby Dollz organized a fundraiser scrimmage at the Ag-Rec Centre in Abbotsford on Saturday. Funds from the event will help convert Barr’s home and car to make them wheelchair friendly, as well as help pay for equipment she’ll need to get around.
“This year alone, she’s going to need three or four prosthetic legs because, as the stump shrinks, you need new legs,” said team captain Melissa Saumur, a.k.a. Spanky Spitfire.
But even if Barr can’t skate any more, it doesn’t mean she’ll be leaving the derby world any time soon. Doctors gave Barr a day pass so she could attend Saturday’s fundraiser. When she’s finally released from the hospital, however, Barr hopes to continue supporting derby by helping as a game official.
“It gets into your blood and you can’t get rid of it. It’s like a second family,” Barr gushed.
Direct donations can be made to TD Canada Trust 0274, Account 6445026. Email transfers can be sent to vickiebonus@telus.net or duke76@telus.net.
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