News and Stories

Graduating from university is always scary, but during a pandemic, it’s particularly frightening. During my final year, I kept hearing statistics about people being fired or laid off, and how unemployment was on the rise. I felt completely lost and didn't want to become another statistic with a large amount of debt.

After 50 years of disciplined exercising, I was faced with the inevitable challenges of aging and had to change my routine in order to continue working out. I’ve ran marathons in my 20s, and in mid-life gone for morning jogs in the fields of Bali, in Bangkok and New Delhi traffic, and on mountain paths in Nepal. Then for the last decade I’ve been hooked on CrossFit.

Becoming a mother is never easy, but having kids in my teen years created a set of barriers that seemed impossible to overcome at the time. At the age of 20, I found myself a single mom of two with the weight of the world on my shoulders. The idea of pursuing my own personal and professional development, which I always valued, seemed unimaginable and I worried about our finances.

A parent’s worst nightmare turned into a happy celebration earlier this month when nine year old, Alexis Edall, rescued a toddler who fell into the pool.  Alexis’ mother is extremely proud of her daughter who was quick to act, demonstrating the life-saving skills she had recently learned in a YMCA spring break aquatic seal camp.

After two years of training to become an IRONMAN, I was crushed when the triathlon I registered for and had poured so much time into working towards was cancelled due to COVID. With the help of the YMCA of Okanagan, I was able to persevere through my training and create my own Lone Wolf IRONMAN. They provided the support and environment I needed to succeed.

After the birth of my second child, I was struggling to juggle two young kids when tragedy struck. I received a call that a crane had broke and fallen, dropping a 7,000-pound beam on my husband, Vince, while he was at work. It was so horrific, the first responders didn’t think anyone could have survived an accident of that magnitude.