“Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it” - Lou Holtz. Ian’s journey of accepting challenges started at a very early age. After an accident resulted in the loss of his right leg above the knee as a teenager, he responded in positive manner and continued to pursue his passion for athletics with full determination. Ian focused on disability sports and with hard work and can-do attitude made history by becoming the first athlete with a disability in Canada to receive a post-secondary athletic scholarship. He is master of many talents which helped him to be successful in different roles whether as an actor, musician , disability activist or an author. He has published his first book Irresistible Force: A History of Disability Sport in Canada. Ian has pursued music seriously for nearly two decades and played with a couple of bands before going solo.

You are an actor, musician, Paralympian, activist and author. Which role defines you the best and why?I: Each of these roles defined me at that particular time, I received incredible benefits from from each one in their specific moment that I have then been able to take with me in to the next role. I also often found the limitations of each to inspire me to move on to something else. My current "role" is working in the Vancouver Film industry and as a sound tech at Vancouver's top Jazz Club Frankies.

What level of training and discipline were required for you to become Canada's top amputee athlete? How have Paralympic sports evolved since you first participated?I: At that time [80's] I was 100% athlete with little or no attention elsewhere. I was out training 4, 5 days a week at the track or in the gym. To do that you have to be be focussed and dedicated and thankfully I found an environment here in Vancouver where that was encouraged. Competing at the Paralympics has changed immensely over the years, the classification system that was brought in later in my career proved to be far more restrictive to my class of amputee athlete. I had no problems competing against other other athletes with the same amputation level but that all changed in the early 90's. The Paralympics are far more difficult to qualify for, which is great for the sport not so for many athletes.

How did you get interested in an acting career? Do you want to share any memorable experiences from your acting projects?I: Ever since a junior school play in Grade 7 I've always wanted to do something with acting, but it took until the early 90's to get involved and even then only on the periphery. My first show was a hospital scene with Dick Van Dyke in 1992. I played amputee roles throughout the 90's and then took it up more seriously in 2009 and became a background performer with a few stunts, photo doubles, stand in and actor roles since then. When I generally do background work it is not an amputee, in fact most of my co-workers don't even know I am an amputee. Thankfully I moved to a city that has a massive film industry - the most memorable was playing an amputee ghost on The Haunting Hour "Cyrus Clayton" I had a few lines that I never auditioned for. I'm a full union UBCP/ACTRA member now because of it, all my credits due to me being an amputee doing amputee related roles in film. Some people wait 15-20 years to get the credits they need to be a full union member I got mine in 3.

Can you tell us about your involvement in disability issues? What is the one thing our society should change to involve all abilities?I: For 15 years I ran the web site amputee-online.com basically from 1992 onwards until Facebook took a hold; this gave a me some great insights as to what faced your average non athletic amputee had. I was also involved locally with various groups that advocated on behalf of people with all disabilities. From that experience I realised a generally fit and healthy above knee amputee like me had it easy compared to the other disability groups I encountered. I found that my amputation had more in common with other "invisible" disabilities such a Fibromyalgia or sensitivity to EMF. The one thing I found was society at large was not generally open to the concept of an invisible disability, if you had a cane or used a wheelchair it had more acceptance to the wider community. The challenge to society is being open to something they cannot see and to not be dismissive of those challenges.

What kept you get through the difficult time after you met with an accident during high school?I: I was only 15 at the time, I did not even realise it was a difficult time. Just a few days before I had won my school cross country race against students much older. I became well known to everyone in the school at the time as the runner who lost his leg. One day I had 30 people around my hospital bed ! For at least my time in that school I had some "special" treatment. It was only when I went to college afterwards and I began to be around people who did not know me prior to my accident did I realise people could form different perceptions of me solely based on being an amputee.

Who is your inspiration?I:  It really depends on what place I am in life. As an athletic amputee I found Terry Fox and Steve Fonyo very inspiring, both taking on immense physical challenges - one practically became the patron saint of Canada the other [who actually completed his task] became a dirty word, if anyone remembers him at all. I find both inspiring because as we have found with other "famous" amputees like South African Blade Runner Oscar Pistorious - there is no distance between saint and sinner when you are an amputee. In the wider society I find people that have contradictory public perceptions inspiring. So someone like Larry Flynt who is both an advocate for free speech and publisher of Hustler magazine or Frank Zappa who both essentially were/are living examples of "you may not like what I create but I will fight for your right to create it".

What is your favorite place to visit? What do you like about that place?I: In 2015 I did a cycling tour of Europe visiting the three top cycling cities in the world - Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Berlin. I loved Berlin the most and I need to get back there one day.

What do you like to do when you are with your family/friends?I: Actually, I'm a bit of a lone wolf when it comes to socialising with friends. I prefer my own company or my girlfriend. I visit my parents weekly, thankfully they are in reasonably good health. When I'm back in England I meet up with old school pals in fact I've organised several school reunions from Vancouver. Most people know Vancouver is not very friendly when it comes to making friends, I've struggled with it for 30 years. Had I chosen a smaller community I would have probably had a circle of friends, but people in Vancouver are picky about who they let in their front door. Thankfully the internet alleviates much of that isolation, I talk with people around the world more than my neighbours, which is kind of sad, but it is the reality of 21st century living.

What tips/advice do you have for those in our community who want to learn new skills?I: If in regard to work related skills I would strongly suggest something within your own physical capabilities so that you can be as close to being competitive as a person that does not have a disability. That is, unless you are willing to go out in to the world and make your own mark, always have a skill in reserve to fall back on if your main thing that you love doing doesn't pay the rent. Recently, I worked at a local university on contract as a computer mover, after 8 months I was let go essentially because I did not work fast enough; the word "slow" was used a lot in the report. When I pointed out the obvious relationship between the words "slow" and "amputee" the supervisor was adamant they were not related. I had not worked in such an environment for 10 years, I had expected perceptions to have changed, it seems they are no better if not worse. The working environment can be a challenge to say the least ! Recognise other people in the work environment will perceive you differently than you see yourself.

Any special message for our community?I: Throughout our lives we are faced with challenges, some of which are physical in nature, some of which are societal, some of which are just in your own head. My advice is to be able to distinguish where these challenges are and then figure out [with help] how to work around them. One of the worst challenges a person can face is the limitations of their own perception. To recognise and overcome those internal barriers first and move on to the bigger issues on in society afterwards. Try to challenge yourself everyday, even in a small way and gain some satisfaction in over coming them.