On May 13, the GF Strong team and BC Rehab honoured seven former GFS clients with the 2015 Gert Vorsteher (GV) Memorial Award.

The BC Rehab GV Memorial Award, worth $5,000 each, is presented to people with disabilities who have risen above extreme challenges, demonstrating remarkable determination towards pursuing their rehabilitation goals and, in turn, have regained their own form of independence.

The award is named after Gert Vorsteher, a paraplegic and former client of our very own GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre. Like Vorsteher, all award winners benefitted from the care and rehabilitation services provided by the GF Strong team who hosted the award ceremony in the centre’s gym.

Clients who inspire

Trent Seymour says the therapy he received at GF Strong has given him confidence in the future.

Trent Seymour, one of this year’s award winners, is a Prince George resident who sustained a T12 spinal cord injury in a hunting accident. Prior to his accident, he was a pitcher/first baseman for the B.C. under 19 softball team that won gold in the July 2014 American Indigenous Games.

Trent was committed to his recovery and was active in many aspects of his rehabilitation at GF Strong, including recreational therapy, wheelchair skills, music therapy, education and wheelchair sports. He identified realistic goals to maximize his independence, such as being able to drive an adapted vehicle, and he now studies engineering at the post-secondary level.

“I would describe my rehab at GF Strong as being the best rehab I could have ever imagined,” says Trent. “The therapy I have gotten here makes me feel completely confident that I will be able to live a normal life and also an independent one.”

2015 GV Memorial Award winners

Please join the GF Strong team in congratulating this year’s GV Memorial Award winners:

• Riley Inge
• Kulwinder Jagpal
• Trent Seymour
• Michael Shaw
• Heman Ly
• Aleksa Cakali
• Daniel Hunt

Visit the BC Rehab website to learn more.