Sports Flashback 1995: Niverville quad athlete inspires

In 1992, Jared Funk, in his final year of high school at Niverville Collegiate, was one of the starting six on the Niverville Panthers volleyball team.

Today, more than three years later, the 21-year-old young man is an inspiration to all who come in contact with him.

Funk graduated from high school in June, 1992. Two months later, on September 2, 1992, his life changed forever. He is now a quadriplegic after a car accident in Winnipeg.

A passenger in the car that was struck by another vehicle on Pembina Highway, he was the only one injured.

Admitted to the Health Sciences Centre with a severe spinal cord injury, doctors delivered the news to the family that night. His prognosis was poor. Not only would he never walk again, but he was also a quadriplegic, and his parents, Bill and Maggie Funk, were told Jared would likely have only limited movement of his arms.

At an interview at his parents’ home near Niverville, Jared talked candidly about his accident, his injuries, his limitations, his life today, and his aspirations for the future.

His positive attitude immediately became evident. The purpose of the interview originally was to talk about his selection to the Canadian Wheelchair Rugby Team (quad rugby) and his upcoming trip to Switzerland with the Canadian team in October.

Funk spent 8½ months in hospital and rehab following the accident. “I had a blast in the hospital,” was one of his comments that really came as a surprise. “The nurses were awesome,”

And then Jared explained. The hospital was where he made many friends. Friends he still has today, who are in similar predicaments. In a sense, the hospital became a safety net for him as he went through the grueling rehab, and developed a close relationship with his new friends.

He says he was down when he was released from hospital and went home for the first time, as the stark reality of his injuries was re-enforced, and he had to face life head-on as a quadriplegic.

Many of the things the doctors said he would never do, he is already doing, such as driving his own car, or not using specially made utensils for eating. But Jared is driven by the doctors’ pessimism as he continues to prove them wrong with the little things on a daily basis.

However, one of the rehab therapists became a close friend of Jared’s as she challenged him during his rehabilitation, a friendship that continues today.

While in hospital, Jared came to the realization that due to the extent of paralysis, there would likely be no sports he would be able to participate in. But a friend in the hospital told him about quad rugby. It is a sport designed for quadriplegics.

It is played on a basketball court, four on four. According to the rules, each player on the team has different levels of handicap. Jared has the least amount of mobility on his team.

He started playing the sport earlier this year, and was part of Team Manitoba’s 10-player contingent at the Canadian championships in Winnipeg in May. Manitoba finished third at the nationals.

Try-outs for the national team were held at the completion of the championships and his teammates urged him to try out for the national squad. He didn’t give himself much of a chance, but in the end, was named to the Canadian team.

This will be Jared’s first trip to Europe, a 10-day excursion to Notwil, Switzerland, near Zurich, for the world championships.

Funk was a top volleyball player with the ‘AA’ Panthers in high school, and for the past two years coached the senior high girls’ volleyball team in Niverville, leading the team to the provincials in 1993.

Just three months after his accident, still in hospital, Jared showed up at the University of Winnipeg for the final four of the ‘AAAA’ boys’ provincials to cheer on the Niverville Panthers. Jared parked his wheelchair beside the Niverville bench in an emotion packed scene.

He is not coaching this year, because he doesn’t have the time. He is as busy, or busier, than many others his age. Jared is currently in his second year of education at the University of Winnipeg.

Jared has found new freedom in his car that is specially outfitted with brake and accelerator hand controls. Since he finally got his driver’s license two years after the accident, he has put on about 70,000 kilometres, which included a trip to northern Saskatchewan with friends. He also commutes daily to school in Winnipeg.

Jared was inspired by a meeting he had with Rick Hansen earlier this year.

“I love what he did, wheeling around the world in his wheelchair.”

Trust funds and fundraisers have been held for Jared. A church fundraiser raised enough money to buy a computer for him.

Two weeks after the accident, his grandmother died. Jared was not able to attend the funeral, but a trust fund was set up at the funeral for him.

Jared is paralysed from his chest down. He has partial movement in his shoulders and wrists, but cannot move his fingers.

“My friends have been great, but it has also been very difficult for them.”

During his eight-month stay in hospital, the Funk home underwent a major expansion and renovation to make it wheelchair accessible to accommodate Jared’s return home. His bedroom was relocated from the basement to the main floor.

Nearly 22 now, Jared has decided it is time for him to move out on his own. Niverville is where he wants to live. Since there is nothing to rent in Niverville that is wheelchair accessible, he is having a house built, with construction slated to begin next month.

“Life goes on; sometimes I have bad days, but I try to make the best of it, and enjoy life to the fullest.”

Jared’s upbeat attitude is something to behold.