(Gatineau) Sport has always held an important place in David Payer’s family.
Posted at 7:45 a.m.
His great-grandfather, Évariste, was one of the first players for the Montreal Canadiens in the 1910s. His father, Luc, took care of the sports facilities at the University of Ottawa. As for David, he has tried almost everything.
“Skiing, biking, tennis, soccer, kayaking…”
And hockey. The sport that marked his childhood. From his first outings, at three and a half years old, David became a sports enthusiast. He started as a forward, before becoming a defenseman, like his favorite player, Erik Karlsson, then with the Ottawa Senators.
“David was neither the tallest nor the biggest,” recalls his father Luc. But he was a worker. A fighter. He had heart for 10.”
Until her heart valves failed.
* * *
It was 2019. David had just finished his career in junior hockey and started his career as an apprentice electrician. Important milestones in the life of the young man. At the same time, he was preparing for a long-planned intervention: the repair of two heart valves, the consequence of a birth defect.
It was his second operation. The first, suffered a few days after his birth, had never bothered him. He was always able to practice all the sports he wanted. It had to be the same this time around. “After the operation, I had to resume a normal life, as before. »
The intervention went well. The three-month convalescence, too. So David went back to work. Two days later, he texted his mother, Kara Lusignan. It was not going well. Not at all well, even. “His eyes were yellow. Her lips were blue. His right hand and his left foot too. We took him to the emergency room,” says Kara.
Both valves failed. Result: David ended up in heart failure. The doctors had to operate on him urgently. “That’s where his nightmare began,” Kara drops.
David was placed in an induced coma for two weeks. His right leg began to swell. The doctors had to open his calf, to reduce the pressure. They also performed a tracheostomy — a hole in his throat — to help him breathe. David left intensive care… four months later.
A horrible experience.
And wait, I haven’t told you the worst yet.
A few months later, at the very beginning of the pandemic, in March 2020, David found himself in the hospital again. This time with a serious infection. Nothing to do with COVID-19; it was his right leg that was affected.
“The infection was rising really badly,” he recalls.
The doctors presented me with two options. Or else they would amputate me. Or they scraped off the infected tissue. After the operation, there would have been only skin and bone. More muscle. What do you want to do, with one leg no muscle? I had less than 24 hours to decide. I chose to have surgery.
David Payer
He returned home three months later.
Without his right leg.
* * *
Today, David is 24 years old. He still loves sports. When I arrived at his parents’ for the interview, he was watching a Félix Auger-Aliassime match on television. He participates in hockey pools, he encourages the Ottawa Senators, he has even resumed playing certain sports, such as golf, wheelchair basketball and the (electric) bicycle. But the possibilities remain limited, due to the quality of his prosthesis.
PHOTO PATRICK WOODBURY, THE RIGHT
David Payer
“When my prosthetic knee is bent, I can’t put weight on it because there’s no resistance. So I can’t practice sports that require squatting. »
So no hockey, running, skiing, soccer.
Not much, actually.
Fortunately, technology has come a long way in recent years. There is more and more hope for fighters who, like David, want to return to sports after an amputation. The Ottobock Genium X3, for example, could allow it to run.
David in a dream.
“It’s a leg with a microprocessor connected to the phone,” he explains enthusiastically. Then there are programs established according to the sport you want to do. So I could start running again, because the knee would be locked from a certain angle. I could also skate and downhill ski. »
When he talks about skiing, his eyes shine.
When I was young, I went skiing in the region and at Mont Tremblant. I loved that. It’s a good winter sport. It allows for great outings. But my ultimate goal would be to be able to skate.
David Payer
“I don’t know if I will be able to play hockey again,” he adds. It might be complicated. But just going skating with my wife on the Rideau Canal, not far from here, would be great. »
The cost of this prosthesis: $85,000. His insurance does not cover all costs. David therefore launched a crowdfunding campaign on the GoFundMe site. He has already raised $8750. He’s missing $21,000. He is determined to find them quickly, to receive his new prosthesis in time for next summer.
In recent years, minor sport has often had a bad press. With good reason, by the way. There has been too much abuse. Too many injustices. Too much violence. Too much racism. All this deserves to be denounced.
But sport can also be beneficial. Virtuous. He teaches us patience. Resilience. Perseverance. Surpassing oneself. All of the qualities that David Payer has shown over the past three years in the most difficult test of his life. Sport also teaches us determination, a character trait that David displays, recalling all the hours of rehabilitation and physiotherapy that will come with the new prosthesis.
“At this point, it will be up to me to experiment and practice.
– Did you wait ?
– You have no idea! »