Photo courtesy of Duane Burr

By Hayley Ferguson

Paraplegic man isn’t letting anything get in the way of his passion

Jul 16, 2019 | 5:09 PM

Medicine Hat, AB – Duane Burr was just a few miles away from home after a four day motorcycle trip when his life changed forever.

“I came up behind a slow moving gravel truck and I went to go pass him. Didn’t see any signal lights, any brake lights. And I just went to go pass him and he turned dead left in front of me and I did an end-o and I rode literally headfirst into the truck.” He described.

Burr’s chest was so broken up that it put too much weight on his heart causing cardiac arrest.

He was also left with multiple broken bones, including five broken vertebras.

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“The one above my armpit, T2, is the one that cut my spinal cord.” Burr said.

The accident left Burr a paraplegic.

“The driver found out that there was no working brake lights, no working signal lights, and didn’t have the right class license to be driving a truck that size.” He said

Burr says that after the accident he became depressed.

“It’s kind of overwhelming at first when you’re in the hospital. You have like lots of support and people reaching out to you.” He continued. “And when you come home it’s kind of the low hits and you don’t have all that support. People want to help but you also want to do things on your own.”

It was that desire to do things on his own that caused him to look into hand controls and modified vehicles.

“My wife says I’m the fleet manager here. Each vehicle I have serves its own purpose.” He laughed.

Included in that fleet is a pick up truck which has front seats that lower and a lift for his chair along with a mini van.

The most powerful vehicle though, is his motorcycle.

The same kind of sport bike he was on during the accident.

“After my accident I actually bought one of those CamAm Spyders and it’s one of those three wheels so there’s no balance involved. And it was alright.” He shrugged. “But it’s just not the same as two wheels.”

From there Burr approached a friend who is a fabricator and designer. Together they were able to create landing gears, hand controls, and a rack to hold his chair on the back.

Now after eight years of riding it he says he’s ready to move on.

“I think the biggest part is that I’ve done it. After my accident, I’ve done it. I can hang it up on my terms, I can walk away and be happy with it.” Burr smiled. “Last year we had actually about 20 buddies out, it was my last ride. We all rode out to Elkwater, had kind of a celebration and rode home. And I’m done with it now and I’m happy.”

Burr has now decided to move on to a sports car.

“When I’m in the car, no one knows I’m in a chair right. It’s just freedom. Therapy.” He said.

Burr is hopeful that his bike is able to find a new home with somebody in a similar situation to him. Saying he wants somebody else to feel the joy and freedom he does behind the wheel.

“Just getting back to what you use to do before the accident or illness comes. It’s just something natural that you’ve always done.”