Kevin Mills sees so many possibilities.
A year after riding across the country on a wheelchair-equipped bike and setting out an accessible course, the Newmarket man is hopeful others with limitations can explore more of Canada’s wonders.
The Newmarket man was an advance care paramedic in 2009 when he suffered a spinal cord injury, rendering him paralyzed when he hit the ocean floor headfirst during a trip to Cuba.
Mills, who had always been athletic, recalls being told he would even have trouble shrugging his shoulders. He was determined to move as much as he possibly could and worked hard. He found an activity-based therapy program involving constant repetitive exercise day after day in Florida. Eventually he was able to push his own wheelchair.
Encouraged by his progress his wife, Heather, saw the benefits of ongoing movement and exercise and thought others might benefit from similar approaches. So she started the non-profit Walk It Off clinic in Newmarket where others can seek support through physiotherapists and kinesiologists.
Mills, meanwhile, started setting goals.
“I decided that I wanted to push a half marathon in my wheelchair,” he recalls. ”About year-and-a-half after my injury, I rode in the Toronto waterfront half marathon.
“It was pretty amazing. I was dead last, I pushed my chair out well over my time limit... they kept the roads open for me”
Other similar events followed and he began using a lying down racing hand cycle and he competed in full marathons. He then landed on a bike that clips onto his wheelchair, meaning he didn’t have to transfer from one to the other, allowing him to be much more independent.
His trainer, Nikki Davenport, who later became an osteopath, then broached the idea of a cross-Canada ride.
“It is something I always wanted to do. I just didn’t think it was possible.
“Who would want to spend months and months doing that,” he thought, adding that he would require help. “Then I started to think about how this trip could help other people.”
So they started planning with the goal of promoting activity-based therapy, accessibility and illustrating the recreational possibilities for people of all abilities.
In addition to training and figuring out all the logistics, the pair spent the following two years fundraising and they established the not-for-profit Pedaling Possibilities with the goal of funding activity-based therapy for others.
And on May 24, 2023 they set off from Cape Spear, Newfoundland. They endured extreme weather as they headed west riding an average of 100 km per day, clocking 142 km on their biggest day. They typically rode for seven days before taking a rest but did ride for 16 consecutive days at one point.
Along their four-month journey, they took the time to address students at schools and talk to people. Members of Handcycle Canada and others without disabilities would join on parts of the ride.
His son, Evan, who is now 16, joined in for a couple of days. And Heather stayed with them for two weeks during the early portion of the ride, caught up with them again in Regina and then met them at the finish line in Victoria.
In addition to conquering a tremendous feat, they also wanted to plot a course that people with all abilities could later follow. They have since published their route, with explanations for each leg with videos of their experiences. It pretty well follows the route Mills and Davenport took, with some modifications.
The hope, he says, is that people of all abilities will follow some or all of those legs, now that a path has been forged. They have since connected with a politician, intrigued by what they accomplished, who is interested in having Mills address Parliament to share his story about accessibility. Mills looks forward to further improvements, such as wider shoulders, to truly make it accessible.
Mills is also keen to share the success he has had focusing on exercise-based therapy and encourages people with disabilities to get outside and get active.
“It changed my life… I don’t know where I’d be without it,” he says. “It gave me the ability to get to the point that I could participate in different sports.”
He likes to get outside for an hour or two every day and sets out to ride 20 to 40 kilometres, no matter what the weather. During his cross-country trek he rode despite the threat of a hurricane in Newfoundland. He also endured heat waves during the mid-summer ride and skirted lightning storms.
Mills is now focused on tackling a 160 km ride in one day from Grand Bend to Sand Beach and, once again, publishing his route and what he encounters along the way. Any money raised would go toward helping to fund therapy sessions for others.
