After nearly a decade in hospital, Ken Birkin is making big strides in his recovery.
Once told by doctors that he might never walk again, Birkin now struts more than three kilometres every day in the Seymour area of North Vancouver.
Since starting to venture out from the Berkley Care Centre last December, Birkin said he’s accrued something of a fanbase, offering thumbs up and encouraging words along the way.
“Someone stopped me in the trail in March, and she said I was her hero, and her kid’s hero, because they see me walking up the hill every day on Mount Seymour Parkway,” he said. “That really helps.”
Now, with ambitions to leave the care centre and get back into the workforce, Birkin wants to shine a light on the difficulties of navigating the disability system, and how much of his recovery involved ignoring others’ advice.
Fall put Birkin in care for nearly a decade
In 2015, one bad slip in the shower changed Ken Birkin’s life forever.
His fall quickly turned a vacation in Costa Rica to a month-long stay in hospital.
With four breaks to his hip and leg, his treatment had to continue when he returned home to North Vancouver.
Birkin spent another two months at Lions Gate Hospital to stabilize his breaks. But doctors discovered another problem: he had a bone infection. That would lead to a nearly nine-year journey of his bones never fully being able to heal.
During that time, Birkin was bedridden for much of it.
Then, after seven surgeries, doctors managed to kick the infection last December. They removed the steel that had been holding his bones in place, and dosed him for a month with heavy intravenous antibiotics specialized to treat bone infections.
Over the past three years, he has been learning to walk again.
“When you’re in the wheelchair that long … your muscles all go rubber, and you’ve got no strength. You can’t even stand up,” Birkin said.
First he started getting up on an aluminum walker, and walking five feet. Next he went a little further, to the elevator down the hall. Then 10 times to the elevator.
Last year, he took the walker outside and walked around the block, around one kilometre.
Following his final procedure, the walker wasn’t enough.
“Dec. 9 was the first time I was out on with the sticks. I went out in the snow even, because I wanted to get going,” he said.
And for his first outings with the sticks, he had to steal them.
“They locked up the sticks in the beginning,” Birkin said. “They’re very protective here, because they don’t want you to fall and get hurt more.”
“But I don’t really identify as someone that should be here, so I do things a little differently, and I get in trouble for that,” he said.
Now, at 3.5 kilometres daily, Birkin said he might be reaching his limit due to the pain on his joints.
“I mean, I’m 64,” he said. “So I’m getting a little worn out.”
Daily walks help with health and motivation
But the walking has so far done wonders for his health, both physically and mentally.
He’s lost around 200 pounds from when his journey began, and at times doubted that he would walk again.
“You can just vegetate here and stare at the wall like they said to do and survive. But it’s not a life,” Birkin said. “People die here every day. And I’m not in that situation, hopefully for a long time. So that’s also my motivation to get out of here.”
Another motivator for him is the small income he receives for disability. Since going into treatment, Birkin has lost his home and has recently declared bankruptcy.
After covering the costs of his lodgings each month, Birkin said he has around $220 left in spending money.
“I’ve tried to fight this rate [with the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction] and they just don’t care,” he said. “They say, ‘No, no one can live on that. But that’s what we’re going to give you.’ And it’s been the same for nine years. I got a $2 raise this year.”
Birkin has gone to the BC Civil Liberties Association, in an attempt to appeal the low disability payments, but was told he didn’t qualify.
As he’s getting back on his feet, Birkin hopes to find employment.
“I probably applied for 100 jobs in the last year, nothing,” he said.
To make matters worse, he can’t use a credit card to buy new work clothes. To help with those expenses, Birkin has set up a GoFundMe page.
Thankfully, Birkin is good at staying motivated, and gets an added boost when people notice him out with his sticks on a daily walk.
In August, he was named Athlete of the Week by CityNews, after being nominated by someone in the community.
“That really helps,” Birkin said. “That’s what’s keeping me going sometimes.”
