OBSTACLES OVERCOME
Paralysis meets its match
In addition to the assortment of free weights and workout machines that cover the floor of Paul McCrary’s new fitness gym, there’s a black and red wheelchair suspended from the rafters.
“That was my idea,” McCrary said of hoisting his one-time mode of transportation to the ceiling at Limitless Training Centre on Walker Road. “It’s to remind me of what I’ve done.”
What the 25-year-old has done is defy the prediction of medical professionals who said he would spend the rest of his life in that wheelchair following a severe spinal cord injury suffered as a teenage football player.
A helmet-to-helmet collision in a 2009 high school game left the then 17-year-old Catholic Central student with a broken neck and essentially no movement below his shoulders.
He has spent the years since in ferocious rehab mode, working with physiotherapists in Toronto and Michigan with a steely singlemindedness to ditch the chair and walk again.
Four years out from the incident, he did just that, tossing the wheels aside in favour of crutches.
“The perseverance he shows is remarkable,” said Jalil Khoury, his high school football coach. “Being placed in such a difficult situation, your faith is tested, basically your whole being is tested. He’s an inspiration to a lot of people.”
Determined to regain control of his life, he enrolled at the University of Windsor, first pursuing a double major in math and computer science but switching to human kinetics as he gained mobility and rekindled thoughts of helping others suffering from traumatic injuries.
“I always knew I wanted to open a gym,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed working with weights and helping people. I can do both here.”
McCrary started working as a personal trainer at the university’s fitness centre, The Forge.
“He came into my office one day ready to yell at me and complain about all the problems in the gym and accessibility issues at the St. Denis Centre,” said Frank Jeney, the university’s fitness co-ordinator. “So I said, ‘Are you interested in working in this industry?’ I hired him.”
Together, they redid the floor plan at the Forge to make it easier to negotiate.
Many have commented on the formidable inner drive that carried McCrary past a horrific moment in his young life.
“I think he’s always been a driven person,” Jeney said. “The injury was a terrible set back but he’s always been driven. If he sees something and he wants it and it’s not going to hurt someone else, he’s going to go for it.”
McCrary said the will to exceed expectations goes back to grade school when some kids trashed talked his shot in basketball.
“I would get so mad,” he said. “I’d go out and work on my jump shot for hours.”
McCrary opened his fitness centre in late October and since then all the long hours have been spent establishing the business.
“It was really surreal the first week but I’m getting my bearings now,” he said. “We were literally working on this place right up until the moment we opened. We were still bolting squat racks in on the third or fourth day.”
He’s training several members of the University of Windsor Lancers’ football team and an entire travel baseball team.
“I’d like to do more injury recovery because it’s something that I’m really good at,” he said. “It’s kind of my specialty.”
He’s been working with lawyer and former Windsor Spitfires’ goalie Larry McRae for several years after McRae suffered a neck fracture that caused severe spinal cord injuries.
More recently, he’s been helping a 19-year-old stroke patient recover to the point where she’s started running again.
The gym’s logo and name are a nod to the possibilities for clients and owner alike.
His logo incorporates a silhouette image of him hoisting the wheelchair on his shoulder, derived from a picture taken the first day he went to crutches exclusively.
The name of the gym took a little time to come to him but once it did, he loved the fit.
“It’s perfect because this gym is for everybody no matter your goals or limitations,” he said. “There’s always new limits to be reached.”
I think he’s always been a driven person. The injury was a terrible set back but he’s always been driven.