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Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2023.22.3 |
Object Name |
Video Recording |
Title |
Sonja Gaudet Interview |
Scope & Content |
Sonja Gaudet interview, 2021. Born digital MP4, total viewing time 00:10:46. Transcript: Martine Gaillard: Very happy to be joined by Sonja Gaudet, one of the newest members of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. Congratulations, Sonja. Sonja Gaudet: Thank you very much. It's a total honor. I am so proud and honoured to be inducted into the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. Yeah. Martine Gaillard: Amazing. Now, as a wheelchair curler, you are a three-time Paralympic gold medalist, a three-time world champion. You already have been inducted into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame, and you even had a postage stamp in your honour. To be in Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, what does that mean to you? Sonja Gaudet: It means a lot, actually. It means that there's some great opportunity out there to encourage people with challenges to turn to sport for... Well, for me it was recovery after rehab. It's an opportunity to spread the message of the Paralympic movement, and bring awareness to Paralympic sport and draw attention to people's abilities and really equalize sport. Sport is such a powerful vehicle. And I know for myself, I'm my best version of myself when I'm out on the field of play, and it doesn't matter what field of play that is. Ice rink, the lake kayaking, or the wheelchair basketball court, or a basketball court. So it's just an opportunity to spread the word about the power of sport Martine Gaillard: For anybody who doesn't know your story, Sonja, can you share a little bit about how you got introduced to wheelchair curling and how you got involved? Sonja Gaudet: Absolutely. Yeah. 23 years ago, I had a horse accident, which I sustained a complete spinal cord injury at the bra line level. So prior to that, my life was very much about being active and playing all kinds of sport. It didn't matter what it was, I just wanted to participate. So that's what I did right away is look to sport, to help with my rehab and my recovery, and just trying to get back to things that I did before and some type of normal life with my family, with my kids. They were only three and six at the time, so it was a huge life changing time for us. So, I experimented with lots of different para-sports, adaptive sports. And then was asked to help out at our local curling club for a wheelchair washroom renovation. And that was in maybe 2002 or '03, so five years after my accident. I wasn't interested in trying curling at all, but once they got me into the arena to help with the reno, I don't know. I think there was more to that. They wanted to get me out on the ice to try curling. It was an up and coming sport, and they were looking for para-athletes to start participating. They twisted my arm to get out onto the ice. But I did, and right away it was an opportunity and a sport that I could... I was looking for something to do alongside my family and friends, because curling is a really integrated sport. I can curl from my wheelchair on an able-bodied team. So that's what I thought it would be for me. But it turned into much more than that. It quickly turned into playing on wheelchair curling teams, provincial play or regional play, provincial play, camps, clinics. And it kind of just took on a life of its own. Honestly, it did. Martine Gaillard: It sure did. Now I have to ask you, as a young mom, two little kids, and your life being so dramatically changed at 31. A lot of people would've given up. Where would you say your strength came from or what pushed you to find such success in your new reality? Sonja Gaudet: Well, certainly the support from my families, first and foremost, and the community at large really rallied together to help us through this time. But my love of sport and turning to peers with spinal cord injuries. And right away, of course, Rick Hansen comes to mind, and did come to mind, because of all the awareness that he's brought to spinal cord injury, raising funds, and just again, the power of sports. So I right away said, "Hey, I need to connect with Rick Hansen somehow. How can we make that happen?" And I was fortunate enough that one of my nurses, very soon while I was still in Vancouver General, connected me with Rick. He came, we chatted, we met. I had a long history of knowing a lot about Rick growing up in North Bend and being young when he was doing his Man in Motion tour. So it was an honour to meet him, and really, he basically just said, "Look. You're going to be able to do whatever you did before. It's just going to be different." And his kids were the same age as mine. Very, very close. So I needed to learn what's my life going to look like first and foremost as a mom? How do I manage my three-year-old son and my six-year-old daughter, and what am I going to be able to do for them, with them? So I saw firsthand from him and lots of other active peers through the Spinal Cord Injury BC Peer Support Program. Right away, I saw people with same injuries as me doing things that I love to do regardless of their injury. And so, I knew that I was going to be able to live the same life that I had before, just differently. Martine Gaillard: You've accomplished so much in curling and given so much to the game. What would you say curling has given to you? Sonja Gaudet: Curling has given me... Yeah. Like I said, I'm my best version of myself on the field of play, so it allowed me to be who I am. It allowed me to forget about my disability, and it's given me the opportunity to turn a really crappy situation into a really awesome situation where I can hope to give that message to other people and role model just through doing and through... Yeah, just, gosh. It's brought so much to my life. I mean, my coaches, Curling Canada, has supported us through this whole journey. And it's brought purpose, it's brought passion. And yeah, I miss it a lot. Honestly. You can't replace the excitement of being on a team that just works really well together and you're just moving along as a unit, working together for a common goal and the excitement that's always there, and you're building towards this final Paralympic game or world championship. And it's hard to replace that when you leave sport. I get it. I see why people come out of retirement. So it's brought it so many things to my life. Martine Gaillard: When you look back at all of your achievements, what are you most proud of? Sonja Gaudet: I'm probably most proud of, and hopefully, most proud of role modeling for my kids, for my family. I mean, that's always been the goal number one. They were my inspiration to get back into life. I had to. I felt like I didn't have a choice. So I wanted to show them, first and foremost, that our life was going to carry on just the way it was before. Well, I mean different, but still doing the same thing. So being able to compete at Vancouver 2010, by that time now, teenage kids are in the stands. I mean, that's what I am most proud of, to hopefully give them the message first and foremost. And however it trickles out from there, that's all a bonus. Martine Gaillard: You've done a lot of work off the pebbled ice as well, helping others with spinal cord injury. What are you focusing on right now? What are some of the work that you're doing? Sonja Gaudet: Right now, I'm focusing on just bringing the awareness piece around accessibility into the tourism industry in our region here and into BC as well. So helping tourism businesses, experiences, adventures, just have accessible options for us. So outdoor recreation, first and foremost, that's my biggest passion, is just to make sure that there's adaptive equipment available. That people with different challenges are being considered when people are offering accessible or adventures in tourism. Martine Gaillard: Isn't it crazy that you started to go just to renovate a bathroom and then you were now being inducted in Canada's Hall of Fame? That is something. That is a amazing story. Can you imagine if you wouldn't have taken that opportunity? Sonja Gaudet: No, I can't imagine it. And you're absolutely right, it did. It took on a life of its own. It was never thought of that it was going to go that way. And it's been incredible. It's been a crazy ride. It's gone so fast. I have so many memories, so many experiences, that I will treasure forever. So yeah, it's pretty amazing that it's gone that far. Martine Gaillard: Well, you are Canada's most decorated wheelchair curler. You are a true role model to many. And now you can say you are forever enshrined in Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. Congratulations, Sonja. Thanks for your time. Sonja Gaudet: Thank you very much. Appreciate it. |
People |
Gaudet, Sonja |
Search Terms |
Sonja Gaudet Wheelchair Curling Para sport Para athlete Paralympic Games 2006 Paralympic Games 2010 Paralympic Games 2014 Paralympic Games World Wheelchair Curling Championships DEI Diversity Equity Inclusion |