Soldier’s loss was Canada’s gain
Spinal-cord injury led to life’s work Langford played key role in rehab
“ Okay Langford, take your boys in.”
Those words, spoken by a commander in a tree with binoculars, propelled 26- year- old Ken Langford and his platoon into battle in a major attack on German lines.
It was Feb. 8, 1945, and the Allies needed to take the village of Wyler, Holland, on the German border. Langford’s group of 30 Calgary Highlanders was following another in which the commander and several members had been killed by the enemy. Leading the way, Langford didn’t get far before an explosion flattened him, severing his spinal cord and leaving him badly cut and bleeding. He was unable to move, but his platoon captured the village that day. When things quieted down, Langford looked around for help. All he could see were four German soldiers heading his way to surrender. They carried him until they found an ambulance crew, which took him to hospital.
Langford survived, but he has not taken a step since. However, his contributions to Canadians with spinal cord injuries have improved the situation for people with paralyzing disabilities by leaps and bounds.
At 88, he can reflect proudly on having a central role in the creation of Lyndhurst Hospital and of the Canadian Paraplegic Association. And, as he lives to see another Remembrance Day, he is matter of fact about the horrors of the war that started it all.
“ It was a job that had to be done and we did it to the best of our ability,” he says. “ Quite a number of us didn’t come back; quite a number of us were wounded; some of us came back in pretty good shape. But we got the job done and put a stop to the German expansion.”
Langford grew up just outside of Chatham, studied law and married his sweetheart, Mary, just after graduation. He practised for two years with a law firm in Chatham before he was put on active service and sent overseas in 1944.
Langford was one of a growing number of soldiers who sustained spinal cord injuries and survived. The reason? Penicillin, which had been turned into a useful drug in the late 1930s. “ The difference between this and casualties from World War I was largely a matter of infection,” Langford says. “ They died within a year or two in World War I.” One of the first Canadian soldiers to survive such an injury was John Gibbons Counsell, a Toronto resident who was injured in the attack on Dieppe in 1942. Counsell persuaded the Department of Veterans Affairs to build a wing in the Christie Street Hospital for paralyzed veterans and he and the newly arrived Langford became friends.
It was a struggle to care for disabled veterans arriving from the front. They invariably made long journeys by ship and arrived suffering from pressure sores and feeling deeply despondent. Staff had to be specially trained to deal with the complex medical and emotional care they required.
“ As more and more casualties started coming back, John decided we’d better get together and form a paraplegic association to have a voice, discuss the problems with Ottawa, our needs,” Langford says. “ I got so involved in that, that I never went back to practising law. That was a lot more interesting and a lot more fun.”
Langford began travelling across the country, establishing offices in other provinces. Veterans were rehabilitated in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto or Montréal, but most wanted to return to their home towns. One of the challenges was to help them find housing and employment.
As the Canadian Paraplegic Association became more established, the federal government gave the trailblazers the responsibility to operate the hospital as well. It quickly outgrew the original hospital wing, so a mansion on Lyndhurst Ave. was converted into a rehabilitation hospital.
But with the war over, Lyndhurst Hospital began to help a new population. “ By about 1950, Lyndhurst Hospital was pretty well full of civilians and I don’t think there were more than one or two veterans left in it,” Langford says. “Rather than see it close, Veterans Affairs turned it over to the Canadian Paraplegic Association to run. So we went to work managing the hospital, as well as everything else, in 1950.”
Staff were hired to provide counselling and job placement, and planning for housing and transportation after discharge. “ It was social work all wrapped up in one service,” Langford says. He and Counsell also acted as spokesmen in Ottawa to ensure that Veterans Affairs helped injured soldiers. What kept them going? “ Motivation came naturally,” Langford says. “ We were quite happy to do anything we could. I think I found something more useful than practising law. Perhaps not as profitable, but something I certainly enjoyed more.” When the hospital became too small for the patients’ needs, Langford and Counsell persuaded the Ontario government to build a new facility on Sutherland Dr., close to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. It opened in 1974 and the Lyndhurst Centre — since amalgamated with the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute — remains Canada’s pre- eminent rehab facility for spinal cord injury.
Langford served as the paraplegic association’s general secretary until 1960, then managing director until he retired in 1977. He’s still a member, speaks at various events and keeps tabs on how things are running. He and Mary adopted a baby boy 50 years ago and they now have two grandchildren. On Tuesday nights they play bridge.
Today, the Canadian Paraplegic Association has nine provincial divisions and a national office, providing support to most Canadians who sustain spinal cord injuries. The organization reaches out to rural communities as well as major urban centres, providing counselling and help with housing, transportation, education, employment, finances and peer support.