fee l s
good
4
Custom Knee Brace Helps
Young Athlete
Gets To
Whistler Cup
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
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
Photo By: Herman Koeslag www.eyeinthesky.ca
42
b e a c t i v e
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.
link