I returned to Canada with a ruined knee and suffering from a crushing depression which soon bloomed into chronic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Before my tour in Rwanda, I was a long distance runner who ran distances of 16 – 20 kilometres two to three times a week. After Rwanda, I spent 6 months either waiting for surgery or recovering from it. I was told that I would never run again.
Looking for an alternative exercise, I switched to weight lifting. However, after two years of lifting I began to suffer from numbness in my wrists and hands. I was told that due to my service in the military – firing rifles, machineguns, push ups and normal wear and tear – I’d developed arthritis and carpel tunnel in both wrists.
After 3 more surgeries on my knee I was no longer able to perform my duties, and was medically retired from the military in 2000. I was 34 years old. My depression worsened until in 2005 I’d gained 40 pounds and become house-bound. Unable to walk further than one kilometre without suffering terrible pain in my knee and unable to relate to the people around me, I had given up.
In May of 2009, my Veteran’s Affairs councillor suggested using a recumbent bike for exercise. She gave me the name of a Dealer in Orillia, Ontario – a mere 40 minute drive from my home. I called the owner, Murray Cleland, to arrange a test ride of some Catrikes.
Murray and his wonderful wife immediately made me feel comfortable and showed me 5 different trikes, all of which I got to try out. I fell in love with the Expedition after 3 minutes of riding. Murray than took me out for a longer ride, he on his 700 and me on the Expedition. For the first time in 4 years – maybe longer – I spent over an hour having the greatest time riding that trike. We travelled about 15 kilometres that day and I returned home to my wife smiling and riding (pun intended) one of the greatest highs I’d had in my life. And the best news – there was NO PAIN IN MY KNEE!
The following week I took my wife to try the Catrikes out and she loved the 700. We decided right then to get two trikes as soon as we could. We live on a very limited budget, mostly due to my inability to keep a job because of the P.T.S.D., so we were resigned to saving for a few years to buy the trikes.
Murray had other ideas. First he ‘rented’ us two trikes – one being the Expedition that I loved. Then he allowed us to purchase the trikes on a payment plan. I’m hoping that Veteran’s Affairs will assist me in my purchase (fingers crossed), but either way, Murray is getting us our trikes before the end of July.
Since the 12th of June, I’ve been out on that trike every day, rain or shine. I’m now averaging 20 to 30 kilometres a day, I’m down 8 pounds and my shrink says that for the first time in years, my depression has lifted. My world has opened from one kilometre around my home to 40 square kilometres! My girls (2 and 3) keep saying, “Papa’s happy!” when I’m around – especially right after a ride!
My wife goes out on the trike most days, sometimes with me, sometimes on her own, and her smiles light up the house when she returns from a ride. We’ve discovered places around our home that we never knew existed in the last month, and we’ve lived here for 8 years!
These Catrikes have done more for me, my injuries and my family, than all the physio and anti-depressants did in the last 14 years.
I can’t thank Murray, his wife and Catrike enough. Their incredible trikes have given me back my life and freedom.
... Cpl. Chris Cassavoy, Retired.