The Maze Runner leads the way at box office PAGE A11
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Rebels earn first win of the season PAGE B1
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Red Deer Advocate MONDAY, SEPT. 22, 2014
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‘Don’t put it off’
HOCKEYVILLE FUN FAIR
STROKE SURVIVOR LOOKS TO RAISE AWARENESS WITH THE STROKE STROLL BY MARY-ANN BARR ADVOCATE STAFF Above his heart Daniel Trudell has a new tattoo. It’s the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s icon — a combination of a torch, maple leaf and heart. Trudell, 48, who resides in Torrington, is a stroke survivor with a message for everyone: “Don’t do what I did.” What he did was ignore warnings from his body that things weren’t right, and whatever is happening, don’t do the common sense thing and go to the doctor. “I was so in denial.” Now he says: “Don’t put it off. Don’t turn your back to it.” “Go to your doctor. Get your physicals.” Trudell is planning “The Stroke Stroll” next month to raise awareness and funds for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. The day Trudell had his stroke, June 15, 2013, he had been out riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle with his then girlfriend. It was a beautiful day, and they toured around Central Alberta before deciding to stop in Cochrane at his girlfriend’s house for a bite to eat. Five minutes after he had parked his bike, as he sat on the couch, he started to feel funny on his left side. Trudell, who had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes a year earlier, realized he was having a stroke and told his girlfriend to call 911. He was soon whisked off to Foothills Hospital in Calgary. Trudell had suffered what he describes as a brain bleed behind his right eye. The stroke did not affect his cognitive abilities but it did paralyze his left arm and leg. When he arrived at Foothills he was still in his motorcycle riding gear. “I told everyone there, nurses and doctors, that I’m walking out of here in my riding gear and I’m getting on my bike.” “They said, ‘Yes you will.’ They were totally positive.” Trudell, a carpenter, originally from the Lower Mainland in B.C., came to Alberta in 2009 to be closer to his mother. His mother is now in her third battle with cancer. His parents of other family members own the Pizza ‘N’ More eh! sandwich shop in Torrington. As Trudell faced his own condition in hospital, he realized it was going to be a lot of work. “I worked really, really hard through my therapy with the therapists.” “It was a life changer for me ... I saw people pass away (in hospital) ... I called it the sheet ward. I’m not getting sheeted outta here.” “I was literally working out every second I could.” Accompanying him on his recovery was the song Eye of the Tiger. The song, which he listened to on his headphones, was the huge 1982 hit from the American band Survivor. It was the theme song for the movie Rocky III, and as one can imagine, it’s inspiring. Imagine Sylvester Stallone getting ready for the big fight. As it turned out, Trudell’s progress was rocketlike. “I was walking in three weeks ... I was going to leave hospital in four weeks,” but doctors advised him not too. He did leave after seven weeks, something he said doctors told him was rare. The day he was discharged from hospital, wearing his riding gear, he got on his motorcycle and drove it around the hospital just to see if he still could. “I wasn’t supposed to but I wanted to prove it to myself. I rode it around the block ... I couldn’t ride it anymore.” He got off it and parked it at that point. Since then he has re-qualified to drive. Trudell has had to give up his carpentry business and is looking at a career change. He is currently on government assistance. Along with a team of supporters, he is going to do a three-day “Stroke Stroll”, walking between Olds and Red Deer along Hwy 2A. He starts from Olds on Oct. 2 at the corner of Hwy 27 and 2A, near the Petro Canada station. He hopes to travel at least 20 km a day. He intends to arrive at his final destination, Gasoline Harley-Davidson, at approximately 2 p.m. on Oct. 4, travelling a total of about 60 km. He decided to walk because a lot of people already do motorcycle fundraisers and walking is a challenge for him.
Please see STROLL on Page A2
WEATHER Sunny. High 28. Low 9
FORECAST ON A2
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Photo by ASHLI BARRETT/Advocate staff
Howie Borrow, one of four keepers of the Stanley Cup, brings the Stanley Cup to the Kraft Hockeyville Fun Fair on Sunday afternoon in Sylvan Lake. See more photos on page A7.
Nature Conservancy needs a little TLC A protected natural area on Pine Lake is getting a bit of a refurbishment. Colleen McPhee, co-ordinator for the Central Alberta Region for the Nature Conservancy of Canada, said the H.G. Lawrence property has been diminished after years of being heavily grazed by cattle. “We’re giving Mother Nature a little hand here,” the enthusiastic and rather jolly keeper of the land explains. The conservancy purchased the land — 113 acres — last December from H.G. Lawrence. It is the last undivided quarter around Pine Lake and the owner really wanted it to be a preserved property, said McPhee, who also lives in the area. Last week a group of volunteers from TransCanada came out to the property to plant MARY-ANN donated native white spruce BARR trees. The land is open to the public, and of course the wildlife that roam it. It can be used for a variety of outdoor activities, including snowshoeing, picking berries, hiking, bird watching, and photography. But it needs a little TLC, and volunteers are needed to assist with more planting of native species later this week. On Tuesday a group of people have been scheduled to do some planting. On Wednesday, the public is invited to come out and help plant pin cherry, choke cherry and wild rose bushes. Pine Lake is 45 km southwest of Red Deer. (For precise directions read to the end.) “We’re cutting really fines lines, Mother Nature and I are going to have a good time together. She and I have a bit of an argument once in awhile,” says McPhee, referring to the weather. This week’s work will be almost the end of it for 2014. On Nov. 15, again a date where volunteers are welcome, they will do some willow harvesting. Of course she offers an invite my way but I already have a other obligations. I’m not sure I would qualify anyway. “We’re always looking for fun people to come out and help us do stuff.” The harvesting involves cutting some willows elsewhere on the land and preparing them for replanting
BARRSIDE
Contributed photo
TransCanada volunteer Melanie Daniels, left, and Nature Conservancy volunteer co-ordinator Kailey Setter having some fun planting some native plants on the H.G. Lawrence property on Pine Lake. in the spring, along the creek area that runs through the land into Pine Lake. Willows act as filters and prevent erosion. “That poor lake needs all the help it can get,” said McPhee. She’s right about that. A green algae alert was issued for Pine Lake in July. The algae toxins result in much of the lake activity — such as swimming — to come to a standstill. Ingesting the water can make people and animals such as pets quite ill. The alert continues and could go on until November. Algae alerts for Pine Lake are common now, as they are with other shallow lakes in Alberta.
Please see NATURE on Page A2
Thousands participate in climate change march Activists protested in the streets of Manhattan Sunday, hoping to urge politicians to take action on global warming. Story on PAGE B11
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