I have been working with Murray Cleland of Recumbent Trikes Canada to help another Vetran. Here is the email we just recieved and
wanted to share it with you. -Mark
Hi Mark & Paulo.
The next e-mail below this one, is an e-mail from Chris - the veteran Peacekeeper injured in Rwanda. It tells how Catrike changed his life!
Thanks CATRIKE, for the opportunity to make real and positive change in people's lives! In our lifetimes few of us have the opportunity to do something that significantly improves the lives of others. Yet, in my 5 years as a Catrike dealer, I've seen Catrike make a real difference many times!
I could tell you many stories, but this one comes directly from the latest Catrike beneficiary.
Murray
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On Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 10:19 PM, C.K. Cassavoy wrote:
Hi Murray.
I can't tell you how much you've given me without getting all emotional, so here's my testimonial
instead. 
Chris
PS - Feel free to use this and/or send it to Catrike. If it helps another Vet, that's good enough for me.
C.K. Cassavoy
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HERE'S CHRIS' STORY of how Catrike changed his life
and that of his family.
In 1994 I was one of 300 Canadian Peacekeepers sent to the
African country of Rwanda to stop the worse genocide in decades. Once there I witness acts of senseless violence,
recorded scenes of atrocities and ended up wounded in a stand-off with the local militia.
I returned to Canada with a ruined knee and suffering from
a crushing depression which soon bloomed into chronic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Before my tour in Rwanda, I was a long distance runner who
ran distances of 16 - 20 kilometres two to three times a week. After Rwanda, I spent 6 months either waiting for surgery or recovering from it. I was told that
I would never run again.
Looking for an alternative exercise, I switched to weight
lifting. However, after two years of lifting I began to suffer from numbness in my wrists and hands. I was told that due to my service in the military - firing
rifles, machineguns, push ups and normal wear and tear - I'd developed arthritis and carpel tunnel in both wrists.
After 3 more surgeries on my knee I was no longer able to
perform my duties, and was medically retired from the military in 2000. I was 34 years old. My depression worsened until in 2005 I'd gained 40 pounds and
become house-bound. Unable to walk further than one kilometre without suffering terrible pain in my knee and unable to
relate to the people around me, I had given up.
In May of 2009, my Veteran's Affairs councillor
suggested using a recumbent bike for exercise. She gave me the name of a Dealer in Orillia, Ontario - a mere 40 minute drive from my home. I called the owner,
Murray Cleland, to arrange a test ride of some Catrikes.
Murray and his wonderful wife immediately made me feel
comfortable and showed me 5 different trikes, all of which I got to try out. I fell in love with the Expedition after 3 minutes of riding. Murray than took me
out for a longer ride, he on his 700 and me on the Expedition.
For the first time in 4 years - maybe longer - I spent
over an hour having the greatest time riding that trike. We travelled about 15 kilometres that day and I returned home to my wife smiling and riding (pun
intended) one of the greatest highs I'd had in my life. And the best news - there was NO PAIN IN MY KNEE!
The following week I took my wife to try the Catrikes out
and she loved the 700. We decided right then to get two trikes as soon as we could. We live on a very limited
budget, mostly due to my inability to keep a job because of the P.T.S.D., so we were resigned to saving for a few years to buy the trikes.
Murray had other ideas. First he 'rented' us two
trikes - one being the Expedition that I loved. Then he allowed us to purchase the trikes on a payment plan. I'm hoping that Veteran's Affairs will
assist me in my purchase (fingers crossed), but either way, Murray is getting us our trikes before the end of July.
Since the 12th of June, I've been out on
that trike every day, rain or shine. I'm now averaging 20 to 30 kilometres a day, I'm down 8 pounds and my shrink says that for the first time in
years, my depression has lifted. My world has opened from one kilometre around my home to 40 square kilometres! My girls (2 and 3) keep saying,
"Papa's happy!" when I'm around - especially right after a ride!
My wife goes out on the trike most days, sometimes with
me, sometimes on her own, and her smiles light up the house when she returns from a ride. We've discovered places around our home that we never knew
existed in the last month, and we've lived here for 8 years!
These Catrikes have done more for me, my injuries and my
family, than all the physio and anti-depressants did in the last 14 years.
I can't thank Murray, his wife and Catrike enough.
Their incredible trikes have given me back my life and freedom.
Cpl. Chris Cassavoy, Retired.
