Despite a spinal cord injury at the age of 17 that left him in a wheelchair, Kristian Oakenshield has been determined to not let anything stop him from living his life to the fullest.
In 2018, the now 34-year-old Sidney local took part in the Royal Victoria Marathon, and on Sunday (Oct. 13) he will do it all over again – his fourth marathon – and he says he will have fun doing it.
“This is just for the experience,” he says. “This is a challenge … and to do something thrilling and exciting.”
He will be supported around the 42-kilometre course by six volunteers, including Central Saanich police officer Pat Bryant, who ran over 100 kilometres in 24 hours for charity in July. His team of supporters were assembled in just two days after he posted an appeal on social media asking for help.
The team will help Oakenshield during the more challenging moments of the marathon, such as steep inclines. “They’ll help assist when I need it because I can't push the whole marathon myself,” he says. “But I’m going to be thrusting myself and pushing the entire time, like I'm not going to be relaxed.”
Since sustaining his life-changing injuries, Oakenshield says he has made it his mission to enjoy life, whilst on a quest to eventually regain full control of his body.
“I have a dream of being 100 per cent functional again,” he says.
He hopes to one day travel to Thailand to receive two specialized treatments; a stem cell injection and an electrical implant on the lower part of his spinal cord, which he says will cost him $180,000.
“I still have all the memory and know-how to move my body,” he explains. “There’s nothing wrong with my brain and I can still visualize and imagine being functional again. I get a lot of involuntary movements, which basically shows that [my body] it's alive and it wants to move.”
But for now, his goal is to keep challenging himself and having new experiences, while maybe inspiring others to do the same.
"[The marathon] helps bring people together," says Oakenshield. "And you can make new friends as well in the process."
