Pat McGrath, Ottawa Citizen
QUEBEC ‘ Amy Taylor-Sharpe took part in the Paralympic torch relay in Quebec City Thursday for her hero ‘ her daughter Sydney who suffers from cerebral palsy.
‘It’s rare that you can say that your hero is a three-year-old, but that’s my case,’ said Taylor-Sharpe, who drove with her family seven hours from Shawville in western Quebec. ‘She is a very determined, very special girl and I wanted to do something special for her.’
Sydney was allowed to walk with her mother while Taylor-Sharpe held the iconic flame.
The little girl slowly advanced with the help of a special bright yellow walker on wheels and finished the leg of the relay in her mother’s arms. As they both reached the end of their short journey, friends and family came forward to give Sydney a big high-five.
‘It’s overwhelming really, I don’t know how to describe it,’ said her father Stephen Sharpe, who also ran with the torch Thursday.
More than 600 torchbearers will carry the flame leading up to the start of the first Paralympic Winter Games held in Canada.
The flame will be taken to Toronto on Friday and later to several communities in British Columbia, before the Paralympic cauldron is lit at BC Place in Vancouver, marking the beginning of the 10-day Winter Paralympics on March 12.
Taylor-Sharpe said she was inspired by the determination and courage of disabled athletes who took part in the relay.
‘It has opened up new opportunities for Sydney, things that we had never thought of before. Her new hero is the paracyclist Shelley Gautier,’ she said.
Gautier is a 2012 Paralympic Summer Games hopeful who cycled with the torch Thursday on her adapted trike.
‘It was really exciting,’ she said after her ride.
Gautier was in a mountain biking accident in 2001 and suffered a severe head injury that left her in a coma for six weeks. After a long and difficult recovery she decided to get back on a bike, despite having half of her body paralyzed.
Gautier now trains on a trike donated by the Quebec Cycling Association and hopes to be the first woman trike racer to represent Canada at the 2012 Paralympics in London.
‘Hopefully I can make it so disabled people can get on the trike if they want, go for a ride or do their errands. I want people to get away from their TV, get out of the house and have some fun,’ said Gautier, who lives in Toronto and is also supported by the Ontario Cycling Association.
Also part of the torch relay leading to the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver was Alison Levine from Montreal.
The young woman, who became disabled as a teenager due to a neurological condition, is a wheelchair basketball player and also plays sledge hockey.
‘It’s such an amazing outlet for me, you’re on a level playing field, you’re just having fun, you’re getting to compete. I can’t live without my sports now,’ Levine said. ‘I really feel it’s important to promote disabled sports and I couldn’t be prouder of myself and happier than I got chosen to be here.’
About 1,000 athletes and officials from more than 40 countries will take part in five sports as part of the Games.
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