THUNDER BAY – When Douglas Dean was just 19 years old, a workplace accident found him pinned beneath a wall and seriously injured.
More than four decades later, Dean hasn’t let the accident, which left him paralyzed and in a wheelchair for life, get him down.
The Thunder Bay man has made the most of his opportunities.
While it might have been easy to take a woe-is-me attitude, given his circumstances, Dean said instead he focused on the positive.
Introduced to the sport of wheelchair curling, Dean took to the sport and later this month will embark on a journey to Stevenson, Scotland, where he’ll be part of Canada’s entry at the 2025 World Wheelchair Curling Championship.
Dean, 60, plays second on Canada’s entry, a team that includes lead Collinda Joseph, third Gil Dash and fourth Jon Thurston.
“I got hurt at an early age, at 19 years old. I was always into sport. Basketball was my No. 1 sport, but being in Northern Ontario, I didn’t have a lot of opportunities, so I took up other things. At one time I just focused on work and then I ran into a friend who opened me up to wheelchair curling and I’ve been in it ever since,” said Dean, honoured on Friday night prior to the start of playoff action at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, being held this week at Fort William Gardens.
Dean didn’t take up curling to win world championships.
He said he never even contemplated playing at the provincial level when he began his curling journey. It was just a way to get out and have a little fun.
But now, to wear the Maple Leaf?
“It’s incredible,” he said.
“It was a lot of time and effort spent training and travelling to different events and just getting recognized by Team Canada scouts at national events and then getting the call to try out for the national team.
He wasn’t successful the first time he auditioned, in 2016-17.
“But then I ended up getting a call in 2022 for the ’23 season and got accepted there. I never made the final cut last year, but this year I did,” said Dean, who left for Europe on Saturday.
The goal is to bring home the gold.
“Any athlete that competes in any of their chosen events, or sport, the end goal, if you want to make it to that elite level, is always to be on Team Canada. Did I ever think I would make it? No. I’m 60 years old. I didn’t think I would make that final upper echelon of elite players,” Dean said.
“But you know what? In curling, you just have to stay healthy and physical strong and opportunities are there.”
In wheelchair curling, the player propels the rock down the ice with either their hands or a delivery stick. There are no sweepers.
Dean said throws must be a lot more accurate.
‘You can’t do the carve. You can’t stretch it 10 feet. Once it leaves your stick, it is what it is. We practice that extremely to make sure we’re on the broom and we have our weights down,” Dean said.
The Canadian mixed team is currently tied with China atop the qualification rankings for next year’s Paralympic Games in Italy.
The world championships begin on March 1, with Canada opening up against the United States.
