Wednesday, October 25, 1995 The winners of the Elementary School cross-sountry race at Selkirk College last Thursday. Dan Russell... Sportstalk”...stats, trivia and open-line discussion - with just a little edge. KOOTEN 4Y BROADCASTING SYSTEM Weeknights 10:15 to midnight. 95.7 FM Castlegar The Kootenay’s First Choice PLYMOUTH DODGE «& DODGE TRUCK ee te Phe Boe Submitted (Cross-country results Kinnaird, 6:17; 2, Natalie Arch Kinnaird, 6:22; 3 Results of the Elementary School Run held last Thursday at Selkirk College GIRLS Grade 2 — 1. Maya Maloff, Twin Rivers, 2:23; 2, Hannah George, Valley Vista, 2:27; 3. Dani- ka Zaytsoff, Twin Rivers, 2:28, Grade 3 — 1. Stesha Davidoff, Twin Rivers, 2:32; 2. Lacy Strador, Twin Rivers, 2:35; 3: Jen- nifer Dacosta, Twin Rivers, 2:47. Grade 4 — 1. Christine Archibald, ‘Twin Rivers, 4:02; 2. Jordi Jmieff, ‘Twin Rivers, 4:03; 3. Breanne Bekker, ‘Twin Rivers, 4:35. Grade 5 — 1. Tara Deschene, Kinnaird, 5:13; 2. Trina Desch- ene, Kinnaird, 5:17; 3. Angela Hawkins, Kinnaird, 5:34, Grade 6 —1. Erin Accardo, @ Spike Amy Poole, Kinnaird, 6:25 BOYS Grade 2 — |. Adam Landis, Twin Rivers, 2:24; 2, Chris Ama- ral, Blueberry Creek, 2:28; 3 Ryan Frame, Valley Vista, 2:29 Grade 3 — 1. Kayle Brattebo, Valley Vista, 2:12; 2. Alex Evin, Twin Rivers, 2:20; 3. Talin Veri- gin, Twin Rivers, 2:27. Grade 4 — 1. Kyle Conne, Kinnaird, 3:40; 2. Jordan Hango, Kinnaird, 3:48; 3. Daniel Birch, Kinnaird, 3:52. Grade 5 — 1. Daniel Weir, Kinnaird, 4:41; 2. Cory Dixon, Robson, 4:46; 3. Mark Frauley, Kinnaird, 4:47. Grade 6 — 1. Daniel Wilson, Twin Rivers, 5:26; 2. Chris Rol- ston, Robson, 5:27; 3. Ben Hen- rich, Kinnaird, 5:34. They were unsuccessful in their attempt at making the 1980 Olympics but did manage to take the gold in the 1981 Common- wealth Games. That victory began a streak of good fortune for the team which managed to defeat Mexico and Cuba in quali- fying for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. 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I : } = © Chrysler trained technicians @ Mopar replacement parts @ Committed to your convenience ® Courteous attention @ Competitive prices CHRYSLER Dodge Jeep like your Chrysier Dealer Nobody Knows your Chrysier vehicle —== ab Plymouth Jeep Eagie Olympics boycotted by many Eastern Bloc countries and Cana- da finished in fourth place. Unfortunately they barely missed the 1988 Seoul Olympics but they did come back to win the 1989 World University ionships in Taiwan. They followed that up by qualifying for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics where they finished an impres- sive tenth after beating the French team. The team has continued to improve since then and has picked up some powerful hitters. The program has continued to improve since its inception and there are big hopes for the imme- diate future. “We have a young group of guys who have the intensity to fight for every point,” said Der- win Parker, Team Canada assis- tant general manager. “We have shown up fairly well against the world’s best teams, having learned from that, we should be able to put it all together when it comes to qualifying.” Parker said the players to watch on the Canada side are #15 Jason Haldane, #7 Paul Duerden, #10 Gino Brousseau and #3 Keith Sanheim. Brousseau and Sanheim are the real power guys and you can expect them to chal- lenge the Russian blocking skills. The only B.C. player on the team is Ross Ballard from Van- couver. It’s his. first year on the team and he’s one of the power hitters of the future. The team is being coached by Clement Lemieux with two assistants, Keith Hansen and Georges Laplante. Judging from the histories of the two teams involved Satur- day's match should be a battle to remember. One team is the king of the hill while the other is look- ing to dethrone them. It will all depend on whose spikes get caught coming out of the blocks. = Double fun ....= The win now leaves the Mates with a perfect 7-0 record on the season with only one game remaining versus the Trail Hawks this weekend. It also means the Mates have clinched first place in the league for the second year in a row. “It shows we weren't a one- year wonder,” said Loukianow. “We battled injuries and got some new players but we battled through. Hopefully we'll do bet- ter than last year.” Loukianow is now looking forward to this Saturday's game against the Hawks. If the Mates win it will be the first time they have gone undefeat- ed in their history. “It would be nice to finish the season undefeated and we have a pretty good chance,” said Loukianow. “We just want to have a good final game and rest up for the playoffs.” In the other game on the weekend the Lions travelled to Trail to take on the Hawks. Once again the Hawks jumped out to an early lead thanks to the superb quarterbacking of Ken White and a suffocating defence. They would never trail in the game and left with a 36-20 win With one week left in the sea- son, the playoff brackets are now set. The Mates will play the last place Lions in the first game while the second place Kats take on third place Trail in the other semi-final. Both games will be played in two weeks time. He Profile The Castlegar Su WEDNESD. October 25, 199 facing the end Story and photos by Jeff Gabert helby Miller used to be sick. The doc- tors knew there was a problem. Her parents knew there was a problem. Her swim coach knew there was a problem. The doctors eventually found it was her liver, but that wasn't a wholly-accurate diag- nosis. Miller was a teenager living a far too typical teenage-life, full of apathy and rebel- lion until that teenage-life was almost cut short by a freak occurrence. What saved her was an infusion. It took the form of a liver, but it was actually an infusion of a new attitude towards life. In 1993, Miller was a typical Salmo 15- year-old. The biggest concern on her mind was boys and her only thoughts on the future dealt with what to wear to school the next few days. She played soccer, basketball and volleyball plus spent the odd hour on the ski hill as part of the Salmo racers ski club. She had a cadre of good friends and a loving family, and it seemed nothing could spoil her life. But that all started to unravel in August, 1993 as Miller prepared to compete for the Castlegar Aquanauts swim club in the Koote- nay Regional Swim Meet. She had been expe- riencing bouts of exhaustion for the past week Back to form. Miller shows the starting form that saw her qualify in four events for the and her skin had begun to take on a yellowish hue. Her doctors said it was Hepatitis A and that she should rest. “They said take it easy,” recalls Miller. “My doctor told me not to swim but I was doing so.. well, I wanted to swim.” It was her third year swimming and she had come a long way. Many hours of practice and training had given her the skill to have a real shot at qualifying for the Provincial Champi- onships and she was driving to that goal. She ended up qualifying for the individual 50-metre freestyle but there was a hefty price to pay. Her condition declined the weeks after the competition. She spent most of it in bed and she became increasingly delusional. She remembers not knowing who or where she was. Shortly after that, she sunk into a coma. The doctors then realized they were dealing with something much worse than Hepatitis A and it had just, claimed Miller’s liver. Unless treated, its next victim would be her life. She was immediately rushed to Trail Regional Hospital and then by airvac to Edmonton, where she continued to slip in and Fi ‘ <=] nici eee peta Provincial Championships held last August in Victoria. | transfusion of oy out of her coma for four days. “I remember quite a bit about going to the hospital,” says Miller. “I knew I had been acting weird but I didn’t know why. I knew I was going to the hospital, but I didn’t know I was there. “Sometimes my mind was clear and I want- ed to say things but my body just wasn’t responding.” The people around her were frantic with worry but Miller says they were the only ones. She remembers it was like watching a movie about some girl in trouble and that girl just happened to be her. “I wasn’t scared and I don’t know why,” says Miller. “I don’t think I realized how serious it was.” Her situation continued to decline rapidly and she was quickly pushed up to the top of the worldwide organ donor waiting list. One became available just as Miller’s time was beginning to expire and the transplant opera- tion was done while she was still in the coma. The operation was a success and when Miller’s eyes opened she saw her swim coach Wendy Pilla. : “She was the first person I responded to,” recalls Miller. “I came out of the coma and she was there. I heard her voice and I was happy because it was a familiar voice.” Pilla had made the trip to Edmonton and had stayed with Miller along with both Miller's parents throughout the ordeal. Pilla, Miller's parents, older brother Garnet and two younger sisters Darci and Lindy all helped her through five weeks of rehabilitation before she returned to Salmo. . But the sickly girl who left Salmo was not the same one who returned. There was a big difference and it was more than a new organ in her midsection How big was it? “Totally,” says Miller. “I got a totally differ- ent attitude to life. There's so much people take for granted. My life totally turned around - it improved tremendously “I'm different. I think of myself as a differ- ent person because of my transplant. My atti- tude and outlook on life is positive and 1 appreciate things a lot more.” Of course, the biggest appreciation went out to the person who had to give up her life so Miller could have a second chance at hers. “It’s hard for me to express what it meant to me,” says Miller. “When you sign a donor Perching, on the pedestal of life. Shelby Miller has a whole new outlook on life and she hopes it will be mirrored in her swimming performances as well as her future. card, you’re not just giving an organ, you're giving a person another chance at life. How do you put something like that in words? “Everyday I think about what’s keeping me alive. I’ve got somebody else’s organ in me keeping me alive. I'm so glad we have a good organ donor program.” mae That program is why Miller is so eager to tell her story to anyone who will listen. She wants people to know she is living proof the program not only works to help sick people get better, but borders on the miraculous. It affords the gift of life to people who, not so long ago, would have had no hope. “I want people to know about me so they can see how beneficial transplants are,” says Miller. “Any transplant is going to help give somebody a second shot at life. And maybe they can have a better life than before.” It certainly did that for Miller. She was back skiing four months after the operation and swimming six months later. In August, 1994 she made the relay team for the Provincial Swim Meet and attended it. In August, 1995 she qualified for the Provincials in all four events she entered - 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 50m fly and 100m fly. Her results at those Provincials weren't overly impressive, as she readily admits. But she is getting better and now realizes the rise of each new day should be celebrated as much as a swim race victory. Her next goal is university. She is finishing her last year at Salmo Secondary School and hopes to go on to be a doctor or a nurse. That’s amazing considering she had never even been in a hospital before her ordeal. But she says the experience changed her life and she now knows helping others is where her future lies. “I’m looking at something in the medical field for sure,”’ said Miller. “I want to use my life experience to help out other people. “Now I can relate to patients.” The biggest thing Shelby Miller learned was a lesson her fellow teenagers often ignore. It was a self-taught lesson on moral economics. What is the value of a lite? “It's very valuable.” says Miller. “It's the one main thing that you have you can focus on. It’s up to you to make what you want of life. It’s not up to anybody else “You just have to go tori”