Whitehorse Daily Star

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Photo by Gord Fortin

AN OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK – Elaine Lee, seen at last week’s Business Connect Con- ference put on by the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce, says she does not consider herself disabled.

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Photo by Gord Fortin

Some of the art she has created is seen here.

Immense challenges have fortified ex-Yukoner

Elaine Lee, a former Whitehorse resident and an artist, poet and playwright, was a guest speaker at last week’s Business Connect Conference.

By Gord Fortin on May 23, 2018

Elaine Lee, a former Whitehorse resident and an artist, poet and playwright, was a guest speaker at last week’s Business Connect Conference.

Lee spoke about overcoming obstacles to achieve her impossible dream to be an artist. She felt it was an honour to speak at the same conference as the “Man in Motion”, Rick Hansen (see last Wednesday’s Star).

Lee was born in 1979 in Vancouver with the osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bones disease. Her prognosis was bleak as no one expected her to live much past the age of two.

“I think I’ve proved them wrong,” she joked.

The doctors asked her parents if they wanted to keep her. Her mother emphatically said yes.

Lee said this is where she inherited her spirit and feisty attitude.

Because of her condition, she lives each day to the fullest to achieve her impossible dreams.

Her first five years of life were spent in a hospital. She resided there until her body was strong enough to live at her parents’ home.

She feels that experience sets her apart from other people who live with a disability because she has never known life without her condition.

She asked everyone in the audience to think what was normal for them, saying normal for her was living in the hospital or dealing with injuries she sustained as a result of her condition.

Lee had to get metal rods put into legs at age two. At age five, she fractured her skull after a wheelchair flipped over.

At 13, a pin had to be put in her hip, which had become dislocated. This forced her to go to school in a body cast for six weeks.

Lee has had three brain surgeries as well as a broken femur, the latter of which caused her to attend university in a body cast.

She feels all these experiences have made her stronger.

“This has only made me stronger and more conscious and empathetic to the other people in my surroundings,” Lee said.

She never wanted the ability to walk, she added, joking that at only two feet tall, people wouldn’t see her.

“Someone would just step on me,” she joshed.

Lee did say that if she could change anything, she would like to be a little bigger because it would give her more of a selection in clothing in the children’s department.

Lee credits the support of her family and the Whitehorse community in general for helping her achieve her dreams.

She pointed to a McHappy Day campaign where enough money was raised to purchase her first electric wheelchair.

Lee said it seemed like everyone in the Yukon lined up on the Alaska Highway to make a donation.

That chair lasted 20 years before needing to be replaced. She was surprised again when she received community support for a second chair.

“All of you really are the reason I’ve achieved everything I’ve done so far,” she told the conference delegates.

With the help and support of the community, she graduated from F.H. Collins Secondary School in 1997.

Lee received the Terry Fox Humanitarian Award Scholarship for post-secondary studies.

She studied for seven years at Simon Fraser University, in Burnaby, B.C., followed by six years at Emily Carr University in Vancouver.

Due to her condition, she could only take two or three classes per semester. This caused her post-secondary studies to take 13 years to complete, but she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Car in 2010.

Lee eventually moved to Calgary to live closer to her mother.

She explained that people in that city look her at and don’t realize she has an education – and she doesn’t let that bother her.

Instead of focusing on her physical challenges, which appear bigger than her abilities, she focuses on living her life. She knows her challenges won’t go away, but they make her a better person.

Despite her condition and all the complications that come with it, Lee does not consider herself disabled.

She doesn’t like what that word means when it’s broken down, as it inaccurately implies that a person has no ability at all.

Lee encourages people to create a supportive environment around them and to believe anything is possible.

Comments (3)

Up 1 Down 0

Elaine Lee on Oct 25, 2019 at 3:28 am

Warmest Greetings, Everyone!
To John and Lucy Delponte and Brenda Buren (who made comments I JUST found now, thank you so much! It truly brightened up my day)!

To everyone else reading this, I am thinking of you and sending all my strength and love to you all, especially those who are going through a hard time. Take care.

Up 2 Down 0

John And Lucy Del Ponte on Jun 29, 2019 at 7:20 pm

Hi Elaine, we saw your segment on Chaos and Kindness with Justin and Ryan. You might have brittle bones but your spirit, personality, and wonderful persona is ROCK SOLID! Always remember.......
E-every
L-little
A-angel
I-is
N-named
E-Elaine God Bless YOU

Up 3 Down 0

Brenda Buren on May 23, 2018 at 3:44 pm

Elaine you are an inspiration! It was so good to see you, even if just for a minute. You Rock!

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