PAYING IT FORWARD
5K walk for United Way
Puneet Mathur feels lucky to have received support during his ongoing recovery from a spinal injury — one that temporarily took away his ability to walk and left a lingering paralysis in his lower legs.
With a Rockin’ at the River event next month, he’s making sure other people get that same support.
Rockin’ at the River is a familyfriendly five-kilometre walk or run in support of local charities. Last year, 100 participants raised $11,000 for Easter Seals.
This year, Mathur hopes to raise $20,000 for United Way’s summer lunch program, after-school program and mental-health services program.
The Rockin’ at the River event was born through a spine injury Mathur suffered, and his subsequent recovery.
“As I was gaining my strength back, I started setting some goals,” Mathur said. “One of my goals was to be able to walk five kilometres. And then from there, I just thought — you know what, maybe there’s an opportunity (and) I can raise some money for charity. And it just kind of evolved from there.”
Mathur had stenosis in his lower back, which wore down his spinal nerves and left him with paralysis in his legs.
“I was left, at about two and a half years ago in December of 2014, unable to walk,” he said.
Recovering his ability to walk took physiotherapy, surgery and determination.
“(I) have gotten to the point where I’m very capable, as far as walking,” Mathur said. “I do still need to use a cane, because I do have some paralysis left, especially from the knees down.”
Mathur also wears a brace, but said he has been able to “adjust and accommodate” to his injury.
“I can pretty much live and function normally,” he said.
His symptoms started about 18 years ago, with recurring pains and tingling “that would come and go.”
“But I just kind of played it off as a, ‘I’ve just got to live with it’ type of thing,” Mathur said. “I’m sure a lot of people do that, and they just don’t realize that there might be another underlying issue, or something that we can do to prevent it.”
Mathur was unable to walk for about 15 months. He adopted a walker, which he stopped using in the late summer of 2015. He then graduated to a cane.
“Over the last two years, I’ve lost 75 pounds,” Mathur said. “I’ve got my zest for activity back and want to continue to push myself, without taking too much risk.”
He works with a physiotherapist to accommodate his goals.
“A longtime goal of mine — since childhood — is I’ve wanted to go surfing,” he said. “So that’s a big one that we’re going to be working on.”
Walking five kilometres used to be one of the goals.
Mathur said Rockin’ at the River helps fund programs that don’t typically get a lot of attention, as a way of giving back some of the support he received.
“There’s a lot of support that you need, when you go through something pretty traumatic,” he said. “I feel lucky to have that support; support of family, support of friends, support of your employer .... When you don’t have to think about those things, you get to focus on what you need to do, which is recover.”
He expects between 200 and 250 walkers and runners to participate in the July 9 event, held at the Riverfront Festival Plaza.
Mathur said there is a lot of support in the Windsor area for events like his.
“It’s an incredible area that we live in,” he said. “There’s so much support for so many causes, that it’s just hard not to feel good about it.”