For a long time, Tim Verney wouldn’t wear shorts.
The War Amps regional representative shared his story Saturday at the Child Amputee Seminar (CHAMP) Saturday, which was held at the Best Western Premier Calgary Plaza Hotel.
The event celebrated half a century of the CHAMP Program, which has helped child amputees meet others like themselves and provided them with artificial limbs, which are expensive.
Way back at the start of the CHAMP Program, Verney was a child amputee.
“I was born a partial amputee, and was not enrolled until I was 13, and it made a huge difference in my life,” Verney said in an interview with CTV News.
“It gave me confidence. It gave me opportunities.”
The organization was launched by adult amputees who realized they had an important role to fill: helping each other.
“They saw a need to support each other when they came home from war,” he said. “And that’s continued on.
“And then in 1975 they realized that, okay, if there aren’t a lot more war amps, maybe we should pass this on to the next generation,” he said. “They created CHAMP, and so CHAMP provides things like financial support for artificial limbs.
“We do work in research, we are in advocacy and so, and that could be on an individual basis or on a collective basis.”
They also provide peer support.
“Peer support is what really is lightning in a bottle,” he said. “Because these kids, they see somebody else like them, they see another kid, or they see an adult like them, they understand.
“And I’m very fortunate -- when I grew up, I knew a number (of people) with War Amps and benefitted from their knowledge.
“And my job as a (War Amps) regional representative is really to kind of continue to share that.”
Verney, who is also a board member of War Amps, can relate very easily to the new generation of child amputees.
“Growing up, I always had artificial legs, so that was normal (for me), but I knew from a very young age I was different,” Verney said.
“I had to do things differently.
“I was slower,” he added. “I was not a good sports person, and I didn’t wear shorts.
“For the longest time, I did not wear shorts until I joined CHAMP, and that’s when I finally got the courage to show my legs, which I tried to blend in a lot, and realized, even if I wore pants, and somebody couldn’t tell I was a leg amputee with this hair, I stuck out like a sore thumb.”
So one day, Verney decided it was time to try some shorts.
“Like I said, for years, I didn’t wear shorts,” he said. “I just was not comfortable sort of exposing myself that way. But you know, with time now I’m quite comfortable going around in shorts.”
For more information about the War Amps CHAMP program, go here.
With files from CTV’s Darren Wright
