When John Counsell and his friends got together 60 years ago to form CPA, lightweight metal wheelchairs were hot new technology and no public services existed for people with SCI. Today, all that has changed, but the need for CPA remains as vital as ever.

Excerpt from Total Access, Special Edition

CPA was formed in 1945 by returning vets who had sustained spinal cord injuries and needed places to recover and get rehabilitation. Counsell himself was a captain, wounded at Dieppe in 1942. While he had independent resources to help himself live independently, he quickly realized that many of his peers needed an organization to advocate for their needs.

During World War II, the increasing use of antibiotics and other new medical practices meant that SCI was no longer a virtual death sentence. At the same time, a new wave of thinking pushed the boundaries of what had been thought possible in terms of rehabilitation.

Soldiers with SCI were not the type to tolerate lying around in hospital beds letting the world pass them by. They wanted to resume the lives they had left behind before going to war.

The federal government, with encouragement from Counsell and others, helped provide resources. Among other things, that meant establishing the Department of Veterans Affairs and agreeing to help veterans return to their pre-war status as much as possible.

Meanwhile health professionals, with Canadians playing a leading role, got to work inventing the emerging science of rehabilitation. Gone was the notion that someone with an SCI needed to be sheltered, incapable of leading a productive, independent life. Four rehabilitation hospitals were ultimately set up – Shaugnessy in Vancouver, Deer Lodge in Winnipeg, Ste. Anne de Bellevue near Montreal and the famous Lyndhurst Lodge in Toronto. Names like Dr. Harry Botterell, Dr. Al Jousse and Dr. Gustave Gingras became well known, not just in Canada but around the world.

CPA and others soon realized that civilians with similar injuries should get similar treatment. By 1950, the association took over running the Lyndhurst Hospital from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Some funding still came in for treating veterans, but the focus slowly but surely turned to civilians with SCI.

CPA grew steadily over the years, establishing a local presence in every part of Canada. Technology kept pace, often spurred by inventions that came from the people with SCI themselves. Counsell is credited with bringing the first folding, lightweight wheelchair to Canada, the brainchild of Herbert Everest and Harry Jennings (Everest was a wheelchair-user). These quickly replaced the old, cumbersome wood and wicker chairs. The first hand controls for cars made their appearance just after the war, ushering in a new era of independence.

Along with increased numbers of people with SCI in the community came the need for policies, legislation and public awareness to remove barriers that would keep them from participating in society. And, while public policy and individual efforts have spawned great changes to enable injured people to maximize their physical abilities, get educated, hold down jobs and raise families, the war has by no means been won.

Throughout the years, though, what is perhaps CPA’s most vital role continues to be providing personal contact between a newly injured person and someone who has “been there.” Face-to-face encounters between peers remain the most effective way to share experiences and help others learn to help themselves.

CPA’s work goes on.