VIDEO: Kamloops man showcases paralyzed friend's resilience

Photo: Contributed

Luke Eliason, left, and Tim Wray in Eliason's ATV.

Luke Eliason is an inspiration, says his close friend Tim Wray.

Ten years ago, Eliason was in a serious car accident. The then-19-year-old had just concluded a hunting trip in Prince George with friends and was driving back home to Kamloops. Around Lac la Hache, he fell asleep at the wheel. 

"The truck rolled and went through a telephone pole," Eliason tells Castanet, noting his passengers weren't seriously injured. "I ended up taking a telephone pole to the back and that's kind of what did me in."

Eliason suffered a complete T5 injury (paralysis from the lower chest down). The accident didn't sever his spinal chord; it dislocated it. That subsequently pinched off the blood supply and killed the nerves. He also separated his skull, broke his shoulders and punctured his lungs. He was in an induced coma for three weeks while his body began to heal.

"The first thing (doctors) said is, 'You probably won't walk.' They gave me a one per cent chance."

Photo: Contributed

A very young Luke Eliason (far right in the green jacket) and friend Tim Wray, second from the right.

Despite being in and out of hospital over the last decade, Eliason didn't let his injury hold him back. As seen in a recent video produced by his friend Wray (they both attended RL Clemitson Elementary), Eliason is still doing the things he loves. That includes hunting, fishing, riding his ATV and playing in a wheelchair basketball league. Work-wise, he was welding for a while and is now a CNC operator.

"For me, growing up with Luke and growing up dirt biking and playing basically every sport you can imagine together, it was pretty surreal to find out he was in the accident," Wray, a physiotherapist by day, tells Castanet. "So to see him continue with his welding and then continue fishing, hunting and all the things he does with the (ATV) is obviously very inspiring."

The video is shot near Barnhartvale, in an area known as the pinnacle. 

Wray, who's been off work the last two months because of COVID-19, hopes viewers take away some perspective.

"It's so difficult to go from our busy lifestyles to all of a sudden nothing, and staying at home all the time," he says. "Keep in mind that there's so much opportunity and so much joy to be had in the simple things of getting outside and enjoying nature and being thankful for what you can still do. ... I'm more appreciative. I went for a five-kilometre walk every day during my time off work and that's something Luke wouldn't have been able to do. But yet, he's still going outside and spending more time outdoors and enjoying himself than I did."

Check out the clip below.