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Custom Knee Brace Helps Young Athlete Gets To Whistler Cup

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Against all odds, Thomas Brazill was one such skier. In the spring of 2011, on his last training run before Provincials, then 14- year-old Thomas fell and had to be carried off the slopes at Craigleith Ski Club in Collingwood, Ontario. The diagnosis? A partially torn medial collateral ligament ( MCL) – one of the four stabilizing ligaments in the joint of the knee. Determined to get back to the Whistler Cup, Thomas did decide to compete in the Provincial races just days later in Thunder Bay. But his knee injury proved to be too much, and he withdrew after a super-G training run. Janet Brazill, Thomas’ mother, explains, “Thomas is a very focused competitor. His dream was to ski for Team Canada – at the Whistler Cup – as he had two years earlier. Under normal circumstances, you must do well at the Provin- cials to get to the next level. Given his stature in the sport, however, Thomas still quali- fied for the Nationals. But that left us just a short window of

time to do something about his knee.” Ironically, C. Ped (C) Dean Woodcock, BioPed Aurora/ Newmarket, was also in Thun- der Bay watching his own son compete. After speaking with Janet, he suggested he could help with a custom knee brace and arranged to meet Thomas at BioPed when they returned home. Says Dean, “Making the brace for Thomas was challenging. I casted Thomas with fibreglass, in a slight flexion weight bear- ing position, but had other factors to consider. As a skier, for example, his quad muscles were quite developed. The brace had to work in tandem with his boot. It also had to fit on the outside of his downhill suit. Most importantly, howev- er, it had to control rotational forces put on his knee as he made his way down the race course.” A little more than a week later, Thomas was back on skis wearing his custom made knee brace. He participated in Nationals just weeks after that. And while he didn’t qualify for Team Canada, he did make Team Ontario and found himself competing at

the Whistler Cup a mere five weeks after his injury. “ I was afraid for him,” Janet says with emotion. “I was whimpering out loud as I watched him coming down the hill at 100 kilometres per hour. I knew he had been concerned about the brace holding up. A fall at that point could have been both physically and emotionally devastating.” Thomas finished the race in ninth place. And though he was feeling less pain after the season ended, an MRI that summer revealed the true ex- tent of his injury – a complete sever of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Now 15, Thomas is officially competing at the adult level with his sights set on the World races. As he will not have ACL surgery until his growth plates close, he is skiing again this year with a new custom knee brace from BioPed. And in fact, has already qualified for the J1 Nationals at Whistler. Well done, Thomas! And good luck with your future endeavours! ................................................................... Linda Forte-Spearing

The most prestigious ski event in North America, the Whistler Cup brings almost 400 young athletes from more than 20 countries to Canada each year. It is one of only eight world- class international races for skiers between the ages of 11 and 14.

Photo By: Herman Koeslag www.eyeinthesky.ca

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