HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1988-11-23, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1983. PAGE 5.
Back the Biter: 2 years later
BY TOBY RAINEY
A Londesboro Lions Club cam
paign two years ago this week that
touched the hearts and tapped the
pocketbooks of hundreds of local
people and resulted in an unprece
dented outpouring of love and
generosity has moved into a bright
new chapter.
In October, 1986, the tiny 19-
memberclub, under the direction of
fund-raising chairman Dave Over
Ron Nesbitt has become one of Radford Construction’s most valued
employees in the 14 months he has been with the company, seen above at a
special work station custom built to accommodate his wheelchair.
boe launched a campaign to collect
$30,000 in order to purchase an
electric wheelchair and a fully-
equipped highway van for fellow-
Lion Ron Nesbitt of RR 2, Auburn.
The previous June the 21-year-old
man had been injured in a swimming
accident which left him a quadri
plegic, without the use of any of the
muscles below his neck. In the face of
such a severe handicap, the Lions
thought it would be good therapy for
Ron to have his own van, with every
faith that he would be able to drive it
to regain some of the freedom he had
lost.
Although many in Londesboro
and the surrounding communities
were touched by the Lions’ gesture,
few thought it would be possible for
so few to raise such a large amount of
money in soshortatime. Butthey
began to donate to the fund which
wastimed to climax on Saturday,
November 29, with a day-long
fund-raising blitz named the “Back
the Biter’’ campaign. From his early
years, Ron was known as “The
Biter,’’ a nickname that has remain
ed with him to this day.
However, cash donations began to
trickle in, aided by heavy advertising
and a weekly update in The Citizen,
totalling more than $12,000 with ten
days still to go before the official
“Back the Biter Day.” Individuals,
organizations and businesses began
to challenge each other to donate,
with some contributing four-digit
sums to the total, and by the end of
the final Saturday, the tally stood at
more than $45,000. The Londesboro
Lions had done the impossible.
Ron Nesbitt was the guest of
honour at the day-long celebration,
and the keys to his new van were
presented to him at the close of the
ceremonies, ready for him to get to
work as soon as he was released from
London’s Parkwood Hospital in time
for New Year’s.
In March the young man was sent
to the Lyndhurst Rehabilitation
Centre in Toronto to learn to use his
new vehicle, where the van was also
adapted and custom-fitted to Ron’s
limited ability, and within a few
weeks the dark blue vehicle with
“Biter’ ’ emblazoned across its front
was a familiar sight on local
highways and backroads, piloted by
Ron alone or in the company of
friends.
At Back the Biter day, Lena and
Carl Nesbitt, Ron’s parents, said
there were no words to express the
gratitude the entire family felt to the
Lions and to the various communi
ties for all they had done for their
son, while Mrs. Nesbitt added, with
quiet conviction, ‘ ‘ As soon as I heard
thatthis is what the (Lions) Club had
in mind, I knew they could do it. Once
they said they would, I never had a
moment’s doubt.”
An obviously moved Dave Over-
boe said “This wasn’t just a Lions
Club project - it’s been a real
community event. The response has
been overwhelming from all over.”
Now, two years after that day, Ron
Nesbitt sits at his desk at George
Radford Construction Ltd., one of
north Huron’s largest employers,
where he has worked as a company
dispatcher for the past 14 months.
Geographically, his specially-con
structed desk is at the very centre of
the Radford Group of three inter
related businesses, but Radford’s
management team of Diane Wasson
and Doug Scrimgeour say that Ron is
at the very heart of the company as
well.
“He has become practically indis
pensable to us, and we see no end to
his potential,’’ says Mr. Scrim
geour, while Mrs. Wasson adds that
Ron hastakenover somuchof her
work that she now has to ask him for
much of the information she needs.
“Ron is right at the hub of the
customer service area, and I usually
wind up sending people down to him
when they come in,” Mrs. Wasson
says.
—T >
Two years ago the Londesboro Lions Club raised more than $45,000 to
purchase a fully-equipped van for Mr. Nesbitt, starting him off on a life of
independence.
It’s obvious Ron enjoys his new job
and is ready to meet any challenges
the company may hand him; he has
regained an astonishing dexterity in
his left hand, and has himself
adapted a number of tools to fit his
specific needs, such as a special
holder for a pen, which he whips on
and off his hand with his teeth, and
an extension tool for his index finger,
which makes it easier for him to use
the typewriter and adding machine
keyboards.
“When we first took him on, we
didn't know what he would be able to
do, and neither did he,’’ Mrs.
Wasson says. “But everybody has
been amazed at how quickly he has
adapted and at how much he has
learned. His (manual skills) and
speed have at least tripled, and
there’s noend in sight for him, as far
as we can see.”
Widely known for its excellence in
staff relations, the Radford Group
refuses to take credit for hiring Ron
simply because he was seen as being
handicapped. “That’s nonsense,”
Mr. Scrimgeoursays. “Ourbusi-
ness has at least doubled in the past
year in all departments, and we
simply needed someone at the
centre to co-ordinate and keep track
of all the activity.
“We had a hunch that Ron might
be the right man for the job because
of his background in heavy construc
tion and office work (he had worked
for his father’s contracting business
prior to the accident), and we have
never for a minute regretted hiring
him.”
“It’s been great,” Ron himself
says. ‘ ‘There aren’t too many places
that wouldtake on somebody like
me, but I really feel that I can grow
with the job here.”
To make the mushrooming Rad
ford Group more efficient and to
assist Ron in his burgeoning duties,
the company is planning on putting
in a computer system as soon as the
specialized software for it becomes
available, likely within the next few
months.
“And what that’s going to do,”
Doug Scrimgeour says, “is to make
Mr. Nesbitt a heck of a lot better than
most of us at a lot of things.”
Unique church
rolls into Blyth
A unique church rolled into Blyth
for a visit recently.
Jack Shepherd, Canadian Execu
tive Director of Transport for Christ
brought the mobile chapel of the
organization to Blyth for a visit with
the Blyth and district Ministerial
Association. The 18-wheel rig has a
trailer that has been outfitted as a
meeting room for chapel services
and for educational programs. The
mob ile chapel moved on to Goderich
la te Friday to pre pare for a safety
seminar with <> local trucking
company.
Mr Shepherd was assisted on the
■. isit bv Jim came. Pastor of the
kuburn M issiofiary ( ha pel. who is a
’ruck drisi r hinis-11.
’ ■ sal', is si • ; nars arc am»>;ig
v. •; k .f.-HC ! . dj. I a- pi’ll for
' ■ ' - .. . . • ' I .Silin l.o;
. . . M ’
peace of mind the ministry can bring
to truckers.
The other part of the mobile
chapel’s w ork is regular calls at truck
stops where the chapel advisers are
available to talk to truckers who are
lonely or have problems. The
Transport for Christ organization
then refers the names to church
congregations in the driver’s home
town for further help.
'1 he organization which is suppor
ted by donations from church
demoninations and the general
public currently has two mobile
chapels and two permanent loca
tions in Canada but in the next
18-20 months is hoping to put four
more mobile chapels on the roads
one of which will serve the Windsor
to Toronto corridor on 401 highway,
one fi<>m Toronto east to Montreal,
another from Montreal to Quebec
Citv a d o:.c on the lower mainland
f Bi ui>i ( oltimbia
Jack Shepherd ]left) and James Came, pastor of the Missionary Church, Auburn stand in front of the mobile
chapel of the Transport for Christ organization on a recent visit to Blyth. I ne converted 18-wheeler serves as a
school room for safety training and chapel for truckers on the road when it stops at truckstops across Ontario.