home in January 2009, he found the entire houserenovated to fit his new life in a wheelchair. Some50 friends, family members and neighbours hadworked on the house.

They took all the carpets out, enlarged thedoor openings and made the bathrooms wheel-chair accessible.

One neighbour, architect John Christie, spenthis free time designing and getting an approvalfrom the Town of Oakville to build an elevator inthe garage. The elevator provides access to boththe basement and the hallway.

“The overwhelming support I received at myhomecoming has continued ever since. This hastouched both Sabrina and me and it keeps usgoing,” said Buren.

After the accident, Buren never asked “Why”?Instead he said, “I soon realized that to make thebest out of the situation, I had to adapt.”

In December 2008, Buren felt a numbingphysical pain, a “phantom pain” that over timehas only become worse.

“I decided that to be able to deal with the pain,I had to build up endurance and resistance. Bybeing distracted, I might be able to ignore thepain.”

Buren had always had a passion for speed andanything on wheels, whether it was a motorcycle,a dirt bike, a snowmobile, a mountain bike or aspeed bike. The freedom of moving on twowheels and the feeling of speed has become hisbest tool on his road to recovery.

His first priority was to get his driver’s licenceback. Only four months after he was paralyzed,Buren learned how to drive a car with hand ped-als to operate the gas and brake.

In February 2009, he got a hand-bike, andbegan training. That month he also enjoyed ski-

ing on a sit-ski in the Canadian ParaplegicAssociation of Ontario Ski Day in Collingwood. InJune 2009, Buren was the very first person to takepart in the Toronto-to-Niagara 200 km Ride toConquer Cancer, on a hand-bike. He thanks hisfriend Brian Bourne for pushing him to get outand complete this race.

The following year a team of 70, includingSabrina, joined Buren and Bourne in completingthis event and raising $280,000 for cancer.

In the Ottawa Fall Colours Half Marathon, hewas again feeling the joy of speed, but this time ina wheelchair. His friend, Rick Vander Wal, whohimself has been a paraplegic for 20 years, talkedhim into signing up for the Bermuda FullMarathon. They were the first wheelchair athletesto race in this marathon. Buren recounts how hishand was bloody as the skin wore off while push-ing the wheelchair through the heat.

Buren knew he had to stay active, and said,“Exercising gives me a shot of adrenalin.”

Over the next year, he completed the WasagaBeach Olympic Triathlon, the Oakville 10 km, theLos Angeles Marathon, an open water swim racenorth of Peterborough and the 24 Hours atAlbion. In the latter race, he and Vander Wal tookturns on an off-road dirt bike.

Last week, he raced on a GSXR1000 motorbikethat was adapted for him.

Through being a motivational speaker, Burenshares his stories and wisdom. He is educatingyounger students through the SMART program;on how to decrease their chances of getting hurt.He speaks to university students about how tocope and not to give up. He has also addressed thelocal chapter of The Rotary Club.

After pausing, and adjusting himself in hischair, Buren said, “The biggest problem is notabout not being able to walk. The biggest chal-lenge is the neuropathic pain."

The pain, often referred to as phantom pain,lies below the injury and feels like everything is onfire. There is no means for how to eliminate thispain.

“I have tried it all, medication, massage, chiro-practor, physiotherapy, even meditation. Nothinghelps to control that excruciating pain.

Buren’s wheelchair bike boasts the motto,‘Attitude is everything.’

In the background, we hear the music andlaughter of his two girls. “I cannot complain. I canbe independent in my own home. I am not braininjured. I can think, I can get outdoors and beactive.

“From the moment I broke my back, I decidedto focus on the things I can still do, rather than tofocus on the things I’ve lost. And I’ve learned thatthe more ambitious my goals are in life, the morefamily, friends and strangers rally to achievethem.

“In the big picture I do consider myself lucky.I can still hug my kids,” said Buren.

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their dad to walk again, and for his back to behealed.

An article and a photo from the day of thetragic accident was featured in the OakvilleBeaver.

This is the story about what happened to theman on the stretcher on the front page of thispaper. It’s also about family, friends and com-munity spirit, but most importantly about atti-tude.

Buren is a thoroughly charismatic, charm-ing, athletic and a well spoken 40 year old.

It was not until he asked us to lift his lifelesslegs out of his hand bike, so that he then effort-lessly could lift himself up into the wheelchair,that we were reminded he is paralyzed from thewaist down.

Of his wife Sabrina Haque, Buren said, “Sheis my champion and advocate. She is the onewho carries all the weight.”

They met while they were both singing in aschool musical at the University of WesternOntario, where Buren was studying sociology.For his Masters Degree thesis in 1998, he built awebsite looking at the social impact of theInternet. With a business spin on his sociologydegree, he was hired by Microsoft as a seniormarketing manager.

Buren spent the first months after the acci-dent at Lyndhurst Rehabilitation Centre inToronto. When he arrived back to his Oakville

Buren focuses on the positive, not the past

INGER MACKENZIE / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER

FAMILY PORTRAIT: Rob Buren and his wife Sabrina Haque with their daughters Zara (left) andChloe (right). Buren, who was paralyzed in an accident three years ago, has an immense appreciationfor life.

Continued from page 1 “In the big picture, I do consider myself lucky. I can still hug my kids.”

RRob Buren, Oakville resident