March 10, 2011

It Takes A Village

Last summer there was a guest speaker at one of our local North Shore Athletics Run Club nights. He was highly respected within the industry and had once worked as the team physiotherapist for the Toronto Blue Jays, back when they were winning no less...and yes there's still a baseball team in Canada eh!

One point he made throughout his presentation that really hit home for me personally, was in regards to the main differences in injury recovery rates of professional athletes verses weekend warriors. He simply stated that once a pro gets injured there's obviously a full team of people to help instantly diagnose them, a village if you will. When your non professional athlete goes down however, it can often take weeks or even months to properly figure out what has gone wrong and why. It's an incredibly costly and frustrating process. On average most people wait out their injuries at least two or three weeks before they even admit there's an issue. By that point you've only managed to dig yourself a deeper hole to crawl out of.

I looked at my own personal situation and couldn't help but feel incredibly fortunate that I had finally, after many years of searching, pieced together my own village of incredibly talented individuals. I've manged to tap into the substantial network of professionals we have right here in North Van, and right at the top of that list is my 'go to girl' Dr. Jenn Turner of Moveo. I called her a magician and I feel that if she had lived in the middle ages she would be flogged and stoned for possessing her powers of healing and recovery.

Jenn has been completely integral throughout my painfully lengthy recovery process and I wouldn't be nearly as far along as I currently am without her weekly attention. I recently sat down with Jenn and put together a short video. She works with Olympic Athletes and is constantly being flown around the world to keep our National Track Cycling Team on the straight and narrow. The girls got skills and her resume backs it up. If you're local to the area and tired of running in circles trying to get answers to your injury issues I can pretty much guarantee she can fix ya up! Check her out...


GR

4 comments:

Tom Craik said...

I totally agree, Gary. Jenn is absolutely amazing. But on that I have to repeat what I've said so many times before, the North Shore athletic community is also amazing. From individuals like you, to shops like NSA, to sport med clinics like Moveo, we are getting closer and closer to working as a unit for everyone.

When I destroyed my leg last summer after Stormy, I was connected through NSA to Moveo and ultimately Jenn. I just mentioned I was having trouble in NSA and Danielle was on the phone booking me an ART appointment. When I arrived Jenn already knew my case and my goals.

That was a truly classy performance by North Shore Athletics, but most importantly it showed me how an athletic community can and should work.

I'm proud to be part of ours, GR.

Anonymous said...

Hi Gary--

Hope all is well! I am a researcher with Nelson Education Ltd. Nelson would like to include text from your website and some of your pictures in one of our textbooks. I have tried emailing you but have not heard back so I thought I would try your blog.

garobbins said...

I guess that's because your handle appears very 'spam' like. Please provide an email address that I can contact you through.

Thanks,
GR

Anonymous said...

Hi Gary--
glassdm@sympatico.ca

Hope this works!

Thanks,
Daniela