Local 258 IBEW member and Paralympian Curt Minard visited at the union office in February to present a custom snowboard in appreciation of the support the union has given to him in his quest to compete in the 2018 Paralympic Games taking place in PyeongChang, South Korea. From left are Curt’s wife Heidi Johnson, Rick Gerrard, Doug McKay, Local 258 IBEW Business Manager, Curt Minard and Dan Giesbrecht, Local 258 IBEW Assistant Business Manager.
UPDATE: Brother Curt Minard made it to the quarter finals in the Men’s Snowboard Cross UL (Upper Limb) competition and finished 6th overall at the Paralympic Games taking place in PteongChang in South Korea.
You can watch the video recording of this exciting event online at CBC Sports by clicking here.
Curt’s qualifying run #1 where he came in first begins at the 22 minute mark; the 2nd qualifying run begins at the 1 hour 44 minute mark; and, the quarter final run begins at the 5 hour 10 minute mark.
Curt competes again in the Mens Snowboard Banked Slalom which has been rescheduled from this Thursday to Friday, March 16. The online link to watch this competition will be posted here when available.
March, 2018 – Local 258 IBEW member Curt Minard is officially a member of Canada’s snowboard team competing in the 2018 Paralympics games taking place in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Before departing Canada, Brother Minard stopped in at the Local 258 IBEW office in Burnaby to thank his union for supporting his journey to qualify and for a spot on the team. He presented Brother Doug McKay, the Local’s Business Manager, with a custom snowboard emblazoned with the Local 258 logo.
“We are very proud of Curt and how far he has come since being seriously injured in an electrical contact accident at work 10 years ago,” said Brother McKay. “It’s obviously been a very difficult journey for Curt and he has shown strength, courage and tenacity in moving forward on multiple fronts.”
While working as a PLT for BC Hydro in Invermere, Brother Minard lost his lower left arm and hand when they had to be amputated as a result of a workplace accident that sent 14,400 volts of electricity through his body. “I was also left with damage to my right arm. These were devastating injuries that almost killed me,” said Brother Minard.
What followed were years of surgeries, physiotherapy treatments and dealing with the heavy mental challenges and difficulties with coming to terms with what happened and trying to regain his identity.
Prior to the accident, Brother Minard had always been involved in recreational and competitive sports. He was determined to play again, and in 2012, after some encouragement by close friends, he qualified for the Canadian national amputee hockey team and they won gold in the world championships that year in Finland.
When the Paralympics opened the door to snowboarding a few years ago, Brother Minard saw an opportunity. With a number of community fundraisers and a financial sponsorship from Local 258 IBEW, he set out on a path to qualify for a place on Team Canada and has seen nothing but success since.
You can watch Brother Minard compete in the Snowboard Cross and the Banked Slalom competitions taking place this week on television on CBC Sports or live on-line at www.cbc.ca/sports.
On behalf of all the member of Local 258 IBEW, we wish Brother Minard all the best in these Paralympic competitions.
Read more about Curt here:
Sports helped Paralympian Curtis Minard regain identity after arm amputation – Toronto Star
Para snowboarder Curt Minard given reason to believe again – CBC Sports