NAN youth win gold at Ontario ParaSport Games

Keewaywin’s Patrick Charles Kakegamic said it was “pretty cool” bringing home two gold medals and one silver medal he won at the Ontario ParaSport Summer Games Aug. 19-21.
“My family wanted to see them and they said they were proud of me,” said the 17-year-old athlete. He won gold in discus and shotput and silver in javelin at the games, held in the Sarnia-Lambton area in southern Ontario.
“It feels great. It was a good experience to go down there. I saw new faces,” he said.
The games are an opportunity for athletes with physical disabilities to compete in a variety of sports.
Kakegamic said the competition was “pretty intense” between himself and Randall Whiskeyjack, an athlete from Slate Falls who won gold in javelin and silver in discus and shotput.
“We would intimidate each other before we competed,” Kakegamic said. “We’d try to scare each other, nothing mean or anything, but we’d just try to get our mind off the competition a little bit.”
Kakegamic was born with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, a condition that affects the skin and joints.
“It curves my spine so I guess some of my bones are weak,” Kakegamic said.
He had never taken part in track and field activities until this spring when his coach Scott Haines saw him during a coaching session at his school in Keewaywin.
“He noticed how I didn’t let my disability stop me from trying,” Kakegamic said. “I try not to let anything bring me down. I just try my best.”
Kakegamic had previously played soccer, dodge ball and kick ball at school.
“I try to get around on my wheelchair whenever possible, whenever the ground isn’t muddy, when it’s nice and flat and hard,” Kakegamic said. “I can’t even go anywhere when it’s raining and muddy.”
Kakegamic attended a track and field training camp in Windsor this past July and is aiming for three gold medals at his next competition.
“I’m just trying to get some training in and get my bones stronger so I can do better next time,” Kakegamic said.
Kakegamic plans to finish high school and attend college or university in the future.
During the games, Kakegamic took part in a number of training activities and social events along with Whiskeyjack.
Haines, who is also head coach of Keeper Athletics and head coach of Team Ontario Athletics at the 2006 and 2008 North American Indigenous Games, said the games were “an excellent opportunity” for the two athletes to meet other athletes who use wheelchairs but live very active lives.
“For them, they have a chance to be able to wheel around just like the rest of them,” Haines said.
Kakegamic and Whiskeyjack dueled it out between themselves in the F57 division at the games.
“They have a sense of value and a sense of hope in the future because they have goals to try to be on the national team,” Haines said. “They have goals to go to international events because they met a lot of kids down there that fly all over the world representing Canada.”