Lyne Bisson says having the opportunity to fly in a glider Tuesday morning was life changing.
"Feelings like you never thought you would have-conquering a fear, you get it all when you conquer a fear," she says.
Bisson suffers from debilitating chronic back issues. She is part of the Ottawa Rehabilitation Centre's chronic pain management program at the Ottawa Hospital. As part of their recreational programs she was able to participate in a "Freedom to Fly Day" at the Gatineau Gliding Club.
The program provides people with disabilities the opportunity to fly in a glider. Douglas Laurie-Lean has been volunteering with the program for twelve years. He says the program has allowed over 500 people experience the magic of flight."They vary in disabilities, from minor disabilities, to amputees, to quadriplegics- we've even taken up," he says.
But Laurie-Lean says this will likely be one of the last groups from the chronic pain management program that participates.
He says, "The chronic pain project at the Ottawa rehabilitation hospital - the people that come here (on the bus)- the current federal government is cutting the funds for that."
The Ottawa Hospital said in a statement, "The program’s capacity for inpatients will remain the same, but will be slightly smaller for outpatients. This change is in keeping with the hospital’s focus on our core mandate: providing the most advanced and specialized care to patients in our region."
But for Bisson, she says the recreational programs are essential to her healing process. "This is imperative, to balance everything else, and to experience something that is uplifting and it changes your life- it’s important to pain management."
