Richard's Story

Meet Richard. Richard is 59 years old, and he leads a very active lifestyle. But it wasn’t always this way.

“I was extremely fit and active in every sport you could think of as a kid, but in my early 20s I had a water-skiing accident that damaged my lower back.”

While nothing specific needed to be fixed, it took Richard three months to recover, and since then he says his back has never been the same.

“If I stretched a certain way, or reached for something on the floor, I would put my back out.”

“It would stop me from standing, walking, and sitting for a couple of days. Then it took another two weeks to a month to completely recover and function normally.”

During this time Richard was still participating in sports. He says the episodes of debilitating back pain were infrequent at first, happening once every couple of years.

Then, Richard’s lifestyle changed. He got older, he was less active, and he and his wife had children, which meant he spent much of his time focused on them.

“My back got progressively worse and worse and worse.”

The episodes became more frequent, and he would sometimes get what he calls a double hit—when he has another episode before the pain from the previous one had subsided.

But no matter how many doctors or specialists he went to, no one was able to find a solution.

It got to a point where Richard was having debilitating episodes a few times a week.

With the help of an Osteopath –someone who uses manual therapy to relieve pain and help the body heal itself—he was able to get the episodes down to once every couple of weeks, then once every six months. 

Until his Osteopath left and he couldn’t find an effective alternative. 

“I started having more episodes.”

Richard says three years ago the episodes got so bad that he would simply be walking through a parking lot, and his back would go out.

“I’d be flat on the ground, and there’s nothing anyone can do. If someone tried to move me, I’d be screaming in pain.”

“I just have to wait for it to subside and slowly try and get up.”

He started keeping his back as straight as possible, locking it to avoid triggering an event, but that only brought temporary relief.

“My back wouldn’t flex because I’d been so rigid [for so long] that it started to seize up. That flexibility went out the window.”

“I needed help from my wife to put on my socks in the morning.”

Nearly at a loss for how to help himself, Richard went to a Registered Massage Therapist (RMT) who told him he had to stretch daily.

This was around the time he learned about the Back to Living Well program run through the YMCA.

Richard has been a member of the Ron Edwards Family YMCA since September 2023. He says he only occasionally swam in the pool or worked out at the gym. Then, he started doing his back exercises, and that’s when he saw a poster about Back to Living Well 

“I thought – that’s exactly who I am and what I need...can I join?”

Back to Living well is a 12-week program designed in partnership with McMaster University for people who suffer from lower back pain. Through the program, McMaster will study participants to understand the benefits of exercise and education on lower back pain.

He spoke with a membership associate and started the program in July. Richard attends classes on Mondays and Wednesdays and does daily stretching and back exercises in between.

He says the program's focus is on using your back in order to repair it.

“By extending your boundaries you strengthen your back, and you get stronger,” says Richard. “I’m back to almost being fully fit.”

He admits it’s been a long road, but it’s one he has been happy to travel.

“It’s taken a long time to get as bad as I am, and it’s taken a year to get to where I am now.”

One of the shining lights in the program is the YMCA instructors. Richard says they push participants to extend their boundaries, but they always give different modifications and levels of intensity—and they’re always watching to make sure no one is going too far beyond their limits.

“They always say ‘do what you can.’ As I’ve progressed, they’ve added different exercises. I’m even doing Russian Twists! It’s absolutely mind-blowing,” says Richard.

It’s one thing to be able to do these exercises in the gym, but he says Back to Living Well has allowed him to live his life again.

“I can cycle, I can swim, I can jog. I have my life back and I’m not fearing collapsing in a [parking lot].”

The attentive and caring YMCA instructors helped create a sense of community for Richard. They had group discussions where they would talk about how things are going, and their plans for exercising during the week—and they would share their personal goals with one another.

“One man just wanted to play a round of golf with his grandson.”

Richard says having those conversations helped him stay accountable and made him feel less alone.

“Just to be able to share experiences and hear that someone else is going through the same thing. It’s motivation to keep going,” he says.

“It’s a community of people with similar interests and struggles. It makes you feel like you can do it when you have other people doing it too.”

Richard is extremely grateful to the YMCA and the Back to Living Well program. He can finally live the life he’s always wanted –cycling, walking, jogging, and simply living his life without fear.

“It’s been transformative. It’s allowed me to participate in my life again.” 

#IgnitePotential #TheYSavesLives #ShineOn