Paralympian Jolan Wong to receive key to the City of Pembroke

Paralympic bronze medalist Jolan Wong is set to receive the key to the City of Pembroke on Sunday.

Wong won the bronze medal in sitting volleyball – Canada’s first in the event – at this summer’s Paris 2024 Paralympic games.

"It was like a rerun of Tokyo, meeting Brazil in the bronze medal match," Wong said in an interview with CTV News.

"We came in fourth in Tokyo. So, we had some redemption that we wanted."

The 34-year-old lost her right leg to bone cancer when she was just 13-years-old.

"I had the same cancer as Terry Fox, osteogenesis sarcoma. My bone was affected, my femur was affected. So, they removed that."

Since then, Wong has played on Canada’s sitting volleyball team since its inception in 2008. It's her third Paralympics, having also competed in the Rio 2016 Games and Tokyo 2020 Games.

"Holy, like 16 years went into this thing," she says of her bronze medal. "16 years of support from friends and family and community."

Wong has also won bronze medals at the 2015 and 2019 Parapan American Games and a silver medal at the 2022 World Para Volleyball Championship.

Mayor Ron Gervais will present Wong with the key to the city at the Pembroke Lumber Kings game at 2 p.m. at the Pembroke Memorial Centre.

He says the key to the city is the highest award a municipality can bestow upon one of its residents.

"It's an exceptional award for an exceptional person," said Gervais.

"Given all the adversity that she's overcome in terms of cancer and all the great things that she's accomplished, I'm very much proud to award her with that key to the city."

The distinction carries extra significance for Wong as she has only lived in Pembroke for 11 years, originally hailing from Vermilion, Alta.

"It's a pretty high honour,” said Wong. "At first, I didn't know what to think. It's a pretty big thing."

Following her and Team Canada’s success at the 2024 Paralympic Games, Wong says she and her teammates are now pushing a campaign to give more recognition to paralympic sports and its athletes.

"We're trying to make the Paralympics a household name," she said.

"The Olympics is amazing, elite athletes. The Paralympics is amazing, elite athletes that have overcome something huge in their life."