SAANICHNEWS COMMUNITY
SPORTS
Canada Day on the Gorge
Hesjedal in the hunt
Saanich residents came out in droves to enjoy Canada Day events lining Gorge Waterway. Photos, page A3
By default, Ryder Hesjedal’s success is his team’s primary focus on the Tour de France.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Gray Rothnie
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Page A20
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A long road to recovery The Saanich man who helped forge Victoria’s triathlon scene keeps active to heal from a brain injury
Victoria teachers grudgingly accept contract
Travis Paterson
Natalie North
News staff
It’s been nearly two years since the crash that changed everything in the life of John Botelho and Hillarie Denning. The married couple, and avid cyclists, were on the home stretch of the September 2010 GranFondo cycling race from Whistler to Vancouver when Botelho went over the handlebars of his bike. His story has been told and retold, and Botelho, who was known as Mr. Triathlon for his efforts in establishing the Island’s triathlon scene, will tell the story and what he’s been through since, to anyone who wants to listen. On that September day Botelho had moved far ahead of Denning, an equally capable cyclist. Denning didn’t realize her husband of six years had smacked his head and was lying motionless on the Trans-Canada Highway pavement in North Vancouver. Several cyclists rode past until one, to whom Botelho is deeply thankful, realized his circumstance. “I fell into a hole on the highway, somersaulted and hit head first. I was mush.” Botelho was taken away in an ambulance and awoke from a coma after 16 days. He was then told by his doctors
the prognosis hadn’t been good, and physical recovery was directly attributed to his high level of fitness going into the accident. It was clear, however, that Botelho had suffered damage to the frontal and parietal lobes of his brain. It’s been 22 months since the crash and the 51-year-old is doing his best to rebuild the neuron connections that will allow him to process information the way he did before the crash. “I have to talk about old things to help reconnect,” he says of the ongoing therapy. The brain is repairing itself, and Botelho has been eager to understand as much as he can about the injury. He's now in the final three months of the all-important 12- to 24-month window following a traumatic brain injury, during which time the recovery process is at its highest. A typical conversation results in Botelho telling a story with vigour, passion and precise detail. He tends to go deep into conversation, but he loses context and veers into tangents. “It’s editing skills,” he says. “I have to try and ask questions about the original topic (of conversation).” PLEASE SEE: Mr. Triathlon, Page A10
News staff
Travis Paterson/News staff
It’s a long road to recovery, but Hillarie Denning is helping her husband John Botelho heal from a serious brain injury. Botelho, a Saanich-based athlete and triathlon organizer, crashed his bike in Vancouver in 2010.
B.C. teachers officially reached a collective agreement with the province, but if the decision fell solely to Greater Victoria teachers, they would remain without a contract. Members of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation voted to ratify the agreement made on June 26 with the government’s bargaining agent, the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association. Last week, 21,044 teachers cast ballots and 75 voted yes. Local vote results, while confidential, are considerably different, said Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association president Tara Ehrcke. “I’m disappointed, myself,” Ehrcke said. “The Victoria vote was different from the provincial vote. We had significantly different numbers in terms of turnout and the ratification numbers.” The GVTA executive recommended to its members not to ratify the agreement. “However, a vote’s a vote and we will certainly abide with the will of the majority and we’ll be looking at the next round of bargaining, and primarily the issues of class size and composition and a fair salary increase,” she said. “It wasn’t an agreement anyone was celebrating over.” PLEASE SEE: More bargaining ahead, Page A6 OPEN HOUSE • SAT JULY 7 • 2-4 PM
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