Friends pull together for former rowing champion
Former Kitchener resident Mathew Szymanowski was seriously injured in a cycling accident in Victoria, B.C.
Mathew Szymanowski has no feeling in his legs or hands and requires a breathing tube to stay alive.
The prospect of a full recovery from a cycling accident is doubtful, yet the former Kitchener resident and champion rower remains upbeat. Szymanowski, 23, collided with a pickup truck Aug. 13 in Victoria, B.C., and was airlifted to the intensive care unit of Vancouver General Hospital. He remains there today, unable to speak, with his father Mirek by his side.
Szymanowski’s older sister, Daria Magar, fights back tears as she talks about her brother’s situation and the difficult journey ahead.
“He seems to be in good spirits, for now. He truly believes that he’s going to get better, which I have mixed feelings about because I’m so scared of the moment when he might come to terms with the fact that might not ever happen,” says Magar, a Kitchener resident
“What we’ve heard so far from the doctors is that the chances of him recovering are very low, under 10 per cent, so that’s really as far as we know right now. At the very least, I’m hoping and praying he regains some movement in his hands to be able to have some semblances of a normal life, an independent life at some level.”
“I’m hoping and praying he regains some movement in his hands to be able to have some semblances of a normal life.” DARIA MAGAR, OLDER SISTER
Friends and colleagues have rallied around the Szymanowski family, establishing a GoFundMe page with a goal of raising $100,000 to help offset current and future medical and travel expenses.
Supporters donated $13,863 as of Tuesday afternoon.
Magar, who returned home last week from a visit, says her family plans on rotating trips to Vancouver to make sure Szymanowski is never alone.
The financial burden on the family will be significant.
Szymanowski attended Resurrection Catholic Secondary School before accepting a scholarship to attend Ridley College in St. Catharines. The highly recruited student/athlete continued his rowing career at the University of Victoria, where he won national championships in 2016 and 2017.
Jason Dorland, a former Olympic rower who coached Szymanowski at Ridley College, recalls him joining the program in Grade 12 and seamlessly fitting in. He had a great work ethic, no ego, and was a joy to work with. The team enjoyed great success during that one season and Dorland, who also relocated to Victoria, remained in touch with Szymanowski over the years.
The two occasionally get together for breakfast or dinner and recently discussed Szymanowski’s decision to give up competitive rowing and focus on his new passion, cycling.
“Mathew is an incredibly focused young man, very disciplined ... and he’s determined to make the best of where this takes him,” says Dorland.
Szymanowski spent five years with the University of Victoria rowing team while earning an engineering degree in 2017 and working toward another degree in civil engineering.
Szymanowski’s rowing journey began in 2012 with the Cambridge Rowing Club. Last year, he represented Canada at the world under-23 championship in Poland.
Calls to Saanich Police, to get more details about the accident, weren’t immediately returned.
Dorland says he was told by Mirek Szymanowski that the investigation is on hold until such time that Mathew can speak.