Giving back to Digger after his knees have given out

About 10 years ago, Todd “Digger” Fiander’s knees started to cause him pain. All his years of building trails on Vancouver’s North Shore and his work with concrete (he specializes in placing and finishing concrete) had eroded the cartilage. “I hike about 4 or 5 km a day, throwing dirt over mountain bike trails,” were the words Fiander once used to describe what he does to a doctor. “The doctor said, ‘Well, you’re doing good. I give you five to 10 years,’” Digger said continuing the story. “I went, ‘Until I die?’ ‘No! Before you should get new knees.’” On Sept. 27, Fiander had a post-operative visit with his surgeon. It had been six weeks since he had had his left knee replaced. The doctor said Fiander was doing well, further along than most people at six weeks. Not long after that post-op visit, Fiander made a call to arrange the operation on his right knee. While Fiander’s procedures are covered by health care, the time away from work, as a full-time trail builder with the North Shore Mountain Bike Association, will be lengthy. To help Fiander out, a Gofundme campaign called Digger Kneeds Knees went up on June 21. As of late October, $58,750 of the $100,000 goal had been raised. “I’m overwhelmed with how people can be so generous,” Fiander said. “A friend of mine said, ‘Todd, you’ve been building these trails for free since back in the ’80s, probably more than 30 trails and tens of thousands of hours. I would like to see if we can help, so you can take some time off and not have to worry.’ It’s pretty unbelievable.”

Following his first operation, even though he still had trouble walking down stairs, Fiander had been going to Mount Fromme to do rehab. He missed his work. “I just love being on the trails,” he said.— MP