Volunteer with disability strives to empower others to live positively
VICTORIA, B.C. — Les Chan is creating needlework that he hopes will leave people in stitches.
“The power of humour is that everybody can have fun,” Les smiles, before flipping through photos of his original series of comedic teacups.
Footwear dancing above a teacup is titled, ‘Shake your Boot-tea’, sticks of dynamite exploding around a teacup is called, ‘Tea N’ T’ and two women posing in different sized bras beside a teacup is named, ‘A-cup, B-cup, Teacup.’
While needlework is “punny,” the prospect of sewing them with his one hand would have seemed impossible, after the seizure that hospitalized Les at 13.
“At the time, the doctors told my family I would not see 14,” Les says.
It was a brain tumour that left Led with limited function on the left side of his body.
“All the kids at school teased me,” Les says.
Despite being battered with both racial slurs and derogatory comments about his disability, the bullies couldn’t break Les’s spirit.
“It’s a tough road,” Les says. “But you go on.”
Les resolved to be self-reliant. He taught himself everything from how to knot a tie with one hand, to strapping a watch with a leather buckle on his wrist by himself.
“It’s really started to be a parlour trick,” Les laughs after clenching the strap between his teeth and using the end of a paintbrush to clasp the buckle.
They are just a couple of the countless skills Les felt compelled to start sharing, after meeting others facing similar challenges.
“I think a lot of people just give up and say, ‘I’m screwed,’” Les says.
So Les started volunteering to teach others how to live life with a disability differently.
“The food thing is a big deal in my life,” Les says.
Les says people with dexterity issues can struggle to make healthy meals, so he wrote a humorous cookbook called ‘Don’t Stirfry in the Nude,’ and regularly offers free classes on how to be fearless in the kitchen.
“It’s a passion,” Laurie McFarlane, the program instructor at After Stroke BC says. “He wants to give back.”
Laurie says watching Les’s volunteer work is inspirational.
“He lives life to fullest,” Laurie smiles.
After dedicating decades to serving on local and national boards, and volunteering with countless community groups, Les says he’s learned that every obstacle we face is an opportunity to make a choice.
“Try to figure out what it says,” Les asks, holding up a sign that reads ‘OPPORTUNITY ISNOWHERE.’
“Opportunity is nowhere,” I say.
“Yes,” Les says. “But what if you read it again?”
After a moment, I see it can also be ‘opportunity is now here.’
Les says it’s an example how we can choose to see things negatively or positively.
If we return to his punny needle-work, you could say that Les chooses, instead of being a timid ‘Kit-Tea’ (a kitten in a teacup), to live as boldly as a ‘Tea-Rex’ (a dinosaur in a teacup).
Les doesn’t just reap the joy he sews, he shares it.
“I don’t want to just sit around and do nothing,” he says. “I want to create a better world for everyone.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
It could take years to catch up on child vaccinations in Ontario post-pandemic
Ontario is still playing catch up on routine vaccinations that many children missed during the pandemic and public health officials are warning that it could take years to solve the problem.