Humboldt Broncos bus crash survivor Ryan Straschnitzki speaks to students at Webster Niblock school Monday afternoon to deliver a motivational speech about overcoming adversity.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Ryan Straschnitzki told Webster Niblock students he chose to believe in himself while recovering in the hospital following the devastating 2018 bus crash that shook the country.
The Humboldt Broncos survivor spoke to students during a school-wide assembly Monday afternoon and recalled his experience following the tragic accident and his belief in himself to recover and one day walk again after being paralyzed from the chest down.
“If I’m going to walk again, it’s going to take more than just being resilient and trying to improve. What I needed was self belief, choosing to believe in myself even when the results aren’t there yet,” he said to students while in his wheelchair. “It gave me strength to move forward.”
Straschnitzki encouraged students to continue chasing their goals and working hard despite not always achieving desirable results.
“I have the right work ethic, I have the right mindset, I’m going to do better next time,” he said. “So I come to terms with the fact that ‘Hey, I might not walk today, I might not walk tomorrow, I might not walk in a month, but I know that I’m going to do what I can to make sure I get closer and closer to that goal.'”
With his life-altering new frame of mind and after months of recovery and intense physiotherapy, Straschitzki desired to hit the ice once again. From his hospital bed he set a goal to compete for Team Canada’s para-ice hockey team and spoke about being invited to try out for the team in 2023.
Despite his work ethic and hockey mentality, national coaches decided to cut Straschitzki from Team Canada’s sledge hockey team.
“Just like that, I felt like another slammed door in my face, I was defeated.”
Defeated but not destroyed, Straschitzki shared with students his journey to continue pursuing adaptive sports and his introduction to adaptive mountain biking, kayaking and canoeing before finding wheelchair basketball.
“Wheelchair basketball is what really spoke to me, I like being part of a team, I like wanting to work towards something together with a group of people.”
His new goal,? Represent Canada in wheelchair basketball at the 2028 Paralympic held in Los Angeles.
“In order to get there, I got to start putting in the work both on and off the court,” he told students while sharing a video of his workouts with trainers in Calgary.
“We try to get bigger and faster on the court,” he explains. “Now on top of training off the court, I need to work on my baseball skills, right? I’m a hockey player.”
After sharing more behind-the-scenes images of adaptive high-intensive workouts Straschnitzki spoke to students about one of his largest challenges, overcoming mental health challenges and the importance of self care.
Working with Adidas, Straschnitzki starred in a commercial promoting the importance of maintaining good mental health and encouraged students to seek help if struggling.
Along with schools, Straschnitzki has made several professional inspirational speeches at corporate and networking events, formal gatherings and large-scale functions sharing his story of overcoming adversity.
“But I love coming to schools, connecting with the kids and trying to hopefully inspire them so that if and when they face adversity, they know how to handle it.”
Along with his paralympic aspirations, Straschnitzki created a charity foundation called the Straz Strong Foundation, dedicated to expanding access and opportunities for adaptive sport athletes.
The charity helps provide expensive custom-fit equipment for athletes with disabilities like a racing wheelchair or adaptive mountain bike, which can cost upwards of $20,000 or more.
More information on the charity can be found online at strazstrongfoundation.com.
