KELVINGTON, Sask. Ñ Casey Peterson wheels past images of chuckwagons, horses and cowboys and past numerous exercise machines in his two-storey farm home in east-central Saskatchewan.
An elevator, installed in the house after an accident left him a quadriplegic in 2002, takes him to bedrooms above and weights in the basement below.
Outside, the 36 year old transfers from his powered wheelchair to a specially equipped truck to pick up bales for the 100 rodeo horses he raises with trainer Amy Mackinnon.
Keeping himself fit and remaining upbeat are keys to his recovery, said Peterson, who plans to travel to China for experimental spinal cord surgery next year.
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“My goal is to walk, not if, but when,” he said. “I want to get my life back.”
He is encouraged by others who have seen improved function after undergoing similar operations that implant embryonic stem cells into the spine.
The operation is high risk and is expected to cost up to $50,000, all of which Peterson will have to pay himself because it has not been approved by his Canadian doctors.
Already several Saskatchewan communities, including Kelvington and Yorkton, have rallied to raise funds through auctions, dinners and dances for the 1999 world champion chuckwagon racer. Peterson has also received help from the Workers Compensation Board to make his home more wheelchair accessible.
Karen Falkowski of Yorkton, Sask., who helped raise $3,400, called Peterson a strong person with a good attitude.
“He knows he wants to walk and looks toward that,” she said.
Peterson injured his spine after falling beneath a chuckwagon while training horses on the farm.
Peterson has gone from minimal arm and finger movement to pushing 200 pounds of weights. He said his recovery is hampered by shoulders weakened by years of wrestling steers and riding wagons.
While he does some auctioneering work at the family’s livestock auction yards in town, he wants to continue to breed, raise and train Thoroughbred horses and return to racing. However, he admits hiring full-time help increases costs.
Peterson, a divorced father of four, harbours no ill will or fear toward his high-spirited Thoroughbreds and calls them a strong motivating force as he adjusts to his new life.
“My brother says I might as well do what I love,” he said.
Peterson is having a wagon specially built to enable him to become the first quadriplegic to race chuckwagons. He also looks forward to settling down again with a “good red-necked farm girl.”
“I don’t want to be treated differently than anybody else,” he said. “I want not to be looked at as a person in a chair but someone meeting some goals.”
