Myla, age 30, suffered a massive stroke in 1993 at age 23 leaving her with left sided hemiplegia.
Myla began skiing as a disabled skier in 1996. For the first part of the season learning how to ski with use of only her right side, she quickly adjusted to the new method and began participating in informal races at Mansfield the following year.
Myla attended her first National training event in 1999 held at Mt. Washington in British Columbia and placed second in an individual GS race in for the Ski Improvement Program (SKIMP) organized by our parent organization CADS (Canadian Alpine Disabled Skiing).
She was asked to take a season off from skiing but managed to squeeze in a couple of ski days despite being 5 months pregnant. Upon her return joined the Ontario Disabled Alpine Racing Team.
Myla recalls the first time she discovered the "exciting potential" of getting back to the sport which she thought she would never be able to enjoy again:
I saw a mono skier on the front of a CADS magazine and thought 'hey, if he can do it - so can I!' I was very thankful that a similar organization like ODART was formed in the Toronto area. I immediately joined and against my family's wishes began to ski (they had all said, you can barely walk, how will you ever get down a hill on skis?). Once I put my mind to it I can basically do anything. As one of my team members once said "there is nothing we can't do, we may just have to do it differently".
I've used this motto in everything I do.
Myla looks forward to racing for the next few years and aspires to compete in 2006 Paralympics as a hemi-skier.
