WV man’s marathon to raise awareness, funds for disabled Martin Mitlerchip News Reporter mmillerchip@nsnews.com WHY would a long-retired pharma- cist, a great grandfather — someone old enough to have flown on bomb- ing missions over Germany — have spent two weeks last summer rough- ing, it in an old camper van as it crawled the length of Vancouver Island behind a lonely wheelchair. Bob Milward hadn't planned to, and he worried about being away from Ruth, his beloved war bride of some 55 years. In fact, he had intended to stay at home in West Vancouver and orchestrate the fundraising for what was intended to be a 3,500-km (2,175- mile) tour of B.C. It didn’t happen. Hossein “Nik” Nikzaban’s self-styled jour- ney of hone ended in Port Hardy when costs became insurmountable. (Comprehensive insurance that allowed the wheelchair to legally travel on the Island Highway took $1,200 alone.) If Milward had been able to stay at home and continue with advance publicity and orga- nization it’s likely that the tour would have been completed as planned. But the driver for Nikzaban’s camper backed out a few days before the May 26 departure from Victoria so Milward stepped in. “It was a good experience, a hard experi- ence, to have done it felt ...” Mibward’s voice tails off as he briefly pats that part of his chest that conceals his heart. It’s a gesture that a lot of people who have spent time around Nikzaban seem to end up doing, “I was enjoying it, I really did. Sometimes I got tired — driving that slowly sometimes it’s hard ww stay focused, but [never got Sored. “When you see someone fike that going 80 strokes 2 minute, mile after mile after mile, | thought ‘Here I am, sitting in a rinkside seat at Sunday, March 19, 2000 —- North Shore News - 3 - SUNDAY Focus SEO Ree Bee NEWS photo Julie iverson NIK Nikzaban’s attempt to create a 24-hour wheeict:air marathon mark is not about the record, but the will to accomplish somethiny. ent training program with the goal of gradually increasing endurance and stamina with less time in the gym and more ume on the read. Nikzaban has been averaging five to six hours daily on a program comrrised of weight lifting (three hours, twice a week), swimming (one hour, three times per week), wheeling (uphid and level) and workouts with a stationary cycle. Under Lisa's guidance Nik has been wheeling up to 40 kin (23 miles) once per week in Stantey Park and English Bay. Says Docherty, “Nik is physically ready now; what we're doing in his final waining is the men- tal preparation required for this test. of his endurance.” His support team is hoping that Nikzaban will take pit stops along the way during the 24-hour marathon but Milward isn’t sure that will hap- pen. He’s seen Nikzabar sn action. In’s difficult getting a sense of what life was like for Nikzaban in Iran. His English comprehen- sion is fairly good but he struggles to express complex thoughts without the help of an inter- preter. Milward was interested enough in his neighbour that he recorded Nik’s story verbatim in Farsi and then had it transiared. He's pretty sure there is a book to be written from that transcript. Nik was born the second of what would be five siblings to a mother who was only 13 when she was married to his father, a 23-year-old shoe- maker. At the age of 3%, Nik contracted polio. He sur- vived, but was left a paraplegic. His father bor- rowed money, sold his house, even sold his bicy- cle in an attempt to pay for a cure. His mother worked as a cleaner and washed other people's clothes (by hand) in an attempt to make ends meet. Eventually there was a fam- ily rif — formed along the classic lines of self- determination. On one side was Nik’'s father and his family who said ‘He has polio. Accept it. It’s God’s will.” On the other was Nik’s mother, now 19, and stitl sure that Nik’s lot could be improved with prop- er medical care. Eventually the family insisted Nik be dropped off near a state foster home when he was almost five. Says Nik, “I remember that day that my mom hugged me and carried me towards the foster home and I still have the sound in my ear the way she was walking. “It was so different to the other times she took me to the hospital. I could feel that Lam going somewhere where there is no return. That le a great event which no one else is seeing.” ” Milward had gotten to know Nikzaban when the franian moved inte his apartment building. That was about four years ago and not long ofter Nikzaban had wheeled his way west to Vancouver from Montreal in 74 days. Nor that that particular trip was so special. One year earlier, in 1994, Nikzaban left his native Tehran for the last time and wheeled across Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden. And there had been other wips before that. In 1991] Nikzaban wheeled his way through Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan —- all in the name of awareness. To prove to the abled and disabled alike that nothing need stand in the way of their dreams. In all, Nikzaban has travelled through 31 countries and cov- ered at jeast 60,000 kilometres (37,282 miles) in his wheelchair. So the marathon he has planned for March 30 is well within his capabilities. Although many others would think twice. For 24 hours straight, Nikzaban will push himself around the track at North Vancouver’s Handsworth secondary school in an attempt to set a world record for distance covered in that time by a person using a wheelchair. The editorial body of Guinness World Records hes confirmed that such a record is of interest to them. Nevertheless, Nikzaban says the record itself is of less interest to him than his message of self-belief. [fa record is established it will just be a goal for others to aim at and conquer. Since the beginning of October 1999 Nikzaban has under- taken an intensive and carefully structured program of building strength and endurance in preparation for his 24-hour marathon. Robert Caird is Nikzaban’s weight room coach and an employee at West Vancouver Recreation Centre, where Nik’s weight training takes place. Elizabeth (Lisa) Docherty is Nikzaban’'s track coach; she is also a marathon runner. For the first «wo months of Nikzaban’s training the emphasis was on building muscle through weight lifting and uphill wheel- ing. From December 1999 to January 2000 it shifted to a cross- me with a tot of emotional feeling that [ still sometimes exreri- ence. “However my mom couldn't convince herself to carry on and finish it. She left me there and after she walked 10 steps, she looked at me and couldn't handle it. She came back and she cried and she grabbed me and hugged me and walked me home. She couldn't deal with that.” At the age of 15 Nik set up a bench outside the family home from which to sell smail items like candy. The police came by and told him to take it down, it wasn’t allowed. Nik refused, explaining that it was a matter of food for his family to eat. Eventually the mayor of Tehran sent for the boy who had defied the police and listened to his story. The mayor said, “The bench must go, but I may have some- thing for you,” and Nik was given his first job — as a security guard at a heme for the disabled that was being built. See journey page 13 Wheeichair marathon’s geal t Martin Millerchip News Reporter Thiere’s a large glass jar on the recep- tion desk at the North Shore Disabilities Resource Centre (NSDRC). The jar holds twoonies and next to it is a list of names and guesses as to how far Nik Nikzaban will travel during his 24-hour wheelchair marathon. The guesses range from 275 km (170 miles) to an optimistic 820 km (510 miles). {v’s one small way that will contribute to Nik's goal of raising $15,000 for the 200 children and adults served by the NSDRC and for students with disabilities at Handsworth secondary school. The moncy will help a summer program for childzen with disabilities, providing one-to-one coer: support to allow children to attend such things as recreation centre day camps or a stay at the Squamish camp for children with disabilities, computer classes, preschool, or just a tip into the community. “Kids on holiday go next door or up the street. Special needs children can’t do that,” says program coordinator Margot Beauchamp. The program helped approximately 75 North Shore children in 1998. That number grew to over 100 last year. “The range of kids and the range of disabili- ties is growing every year,” says Beauchamp. Adults with disabilities will benefit too if Nik hits his fundraising target. “Many of the adults that live in group homes (NSDRC looks after 11 homes) don’t get to go places because they can’t afford it,” says marathon coordinator Teresa Englmann. “Everybody likes to go on a holiday — Disneyland or wherever, they dream about it.” Meanwhile, Juhn Neumann ‘s hoping there will be some money left over so that he can expand a recently completed awareness program at Handsworth to other schools. He and other people with disabilities, many the students’ own age, went into the classrooms to talk to Grades 8-10 about the loneliness of special needs. Handsworth has a special needs classroom. Said Neumann, “It’s Room 106. Every student at Handsworth knows what Room 106 is but nobody goes to Room 106. These people are so isolated, either with their parents or caregiver, or in this room. The speeches they wrote basically said ‘If you see us in the corridor, it would be great if you just said “Hello”.’ If we got through to one student, we accomplished our goal.” The staff at Handsworth are certainly trying to do their bit to open student minds to the pos- sibility that physical or cultural differences should not prevent meaningful interaction. raise $15,000 The school and NSDRC have joined togeth- er to celebrate diversity during the week of March 27-31. Principal Terry Shaw says hundreds of students will be involved in various school and community activities that will include: a studeat video; a map of the students’ countries of origin; © a Persian festival; wheelchair basketball and, of course, Nik’s marathon which wili end in time for a multi-ethnic celebration in the school’s large gym (March 31, 2-4 p.m.). Hf you would like to be involved with Nik’s fundraising, cali the NSDRC at 985-5371 to: 1) make an individual or corporate donation (tax receipts will be issued); 2) register with the NSDRC to collect pledges from family, friends, and co-workers (lots of prizes to be won); 3) attend the marathon on March 30-3 to cheer Nik on and celebrate his achievement. In the event of a CUPE strike the marathon: will be postponed.