Couple fights 20 years for compensation
Published Monday October 6th, 2008
After an accident changed their lives, couple was left with little support
ORILLIA, Ont. - More than anything else the story of Carolyn and Robert Desautels is about love.
It's also about shattered dreams and a broken body.
Seconds. That's how long it took for Carolyn to be thrown from a horse. The 357 days in hospital that followed were anything but quick.
An honours student in the dental-assisting program at Seneca College, jobs were hard to find after graduation. So, in 1984 Carolyn joined Katimavik, a federally funded youth volunteer program. Six days after her 21st birthday, with five days left in the nine-month program, Carolyn, along with her housemates, took the horseback ride that changed the course of her life.
It was while she was in a Toronto rehabilitation centre relearning basic skills after spending two weeks in a coma and being paralyzed on her left side, that Robert, her boyfriend of three years, proposed to her.
"When I saw her in the hospital I said, 'I'm not going to let anyone hurt her again,'" said Robert.
The two were married in August 1986, just a few months after Carolyn, then 22, was released from hospital and was still having therapy several days a week.
Frustrated by the lack of job opportunities after graduation, Carolyn applied and was accepted to Katimavik in 1984. She hoped to meet new people and thought the $1,000 completion bonus would enable her to move to Toronto to renew her job search.
"I was always so independent," said Carolyn recently, sitting at the kitchen table with Robert by her side in their seventh-floor apartment.
Despite making progress in the first few years after her accident, by 1989 the couple accepted that Carolyn wasn't going to regain her former abilities.
Today, Carolyn still can't move on her left side. Her left hand is closed. Sometimes it tightens painfully. The only solution is brain surgery, something Carolyn doesn't want to go through again.
While Robert works full-time to support them, Carolyn spends all day in their apartment. Even the step out to their balcony is a barrier.
"She doesn't go outside herself. She can't," said Robert.
Most days she's alone and isolated.
"I have my good days and my bad days, but just being by myself all day . . ." she said, noting she usually fills the hours with reading, watching television or on the computer.
Carolyn was denied the $50,000 insurance she had to purchase for the program. She didn't meet the criteria for the death/dismemberment policy.
Robert got legal advice and argued Carolyn's paralysis was akin to losing both an arm and a leg. As a result, the company reversed its decision and Carolyn received around $800 a month.
The policy ran out in December 1990. Seeing no other option to get financial assistance, they sued the government.
"It destroyed her life," Robert said of the accident. Carolyn was left unable to have children, destroying their dream of having a family.
The case began in mid-2000 and in the end wasn't decided in Carolyn's favour. The whole experience left Robert angry and frustrated, but he continued to search for ways to get help, talking to government agencies and politicians with no luck.
Simcoe North MP Bruce Stanton couldn't comment on specific individuals, but said in the case of claims of injury, it's usually the insurance companies that are involved.
"In the case of the government of Canada, depending on the program, the government doesn't physically buy insurance. It's essentially self-insured, so any claims coming against it in a normal court, it would be up to the judicial process to decide the awards," he said.
"Just because it happens to be the government doesn't mean that the process should work any differently."
Stanton said individual organizations should inform participants of risks as well as safeguards. However, in many activities there's a natural risk that participants assume, he said.
"I appreciate it's delicate talking about these kinds of things because you're talking about individuals, people who are suffering ailments or whatever discomfort from their injury," said Stanton.
But Robert doesn't accept that.
"If a man was to go to a store with a gun and robbed the store and was injured, he would get more help," said Robert.
When the Desautels read in July that Katimavik was launching a new program in Orillia, Ont., they decided to bring their story forward.
"What if something was to happen to one of them? They're going to have to go through the same thing," said Carolyn.
Brian Arseneault, director of operations and partnerships with Katimavik, said safety of participants is "paramount" and incidents of serious injury are rare.
"I would be hard-pressed to identify another one or more than one other in our 25- to 30-year history," said Arseneault.
Katimavik carries public liability insurance as well as automobile insurance for their fleet of vans. Community partners must have insurance in place to cover Katimavik volunteers and each participant is required to subscribe to a $25,000 accident plan and assume the premium.
If an activity, such as horseback riding, is planned it is subject to a detailed excursion protocol that passes through several checks before being approved by the regional office.
"I'm going to speculate this protocol that we have now (for activities) was not nearly as articulate back then," he said.
Because the program shut down between 1986 and 1994, Arseneault said he can't be sure that insurance coverage was the same when Carolyn was a participant.
Today Katimavik's insurance policies seem to be in keeping with other organizations involving youth.
Rotary International, which sponsors youth exchanges, requires participants to have general liability insurance or the equivalent and travel insurance for the full length of their exchange.
Hope International sends groups of youth volunteers to developing countries to work with local communities. Each participant has a comprehensive medical insurance package that includes money to transport participants out of the country immediately if something happens.
"You can't be guaranteed against injury, or bad luck or something terrible happening to you, no matter where you are in the world," said Kristin Treleaven, volunteer co-ordinator with Hope International.
If a participant was to suffer a serious, long-term injury, she believes the organization would do everything it could to help.
"I guess in that case I feel like we kind of have a moral policy and a self-interested reason, too," she said. "We are a charity, so we depend on our donors having trust in us and our volunteers are our donors."
Carolyn said sometimes hours of her day are taken up worrying about how the couple will pay their bills. She receives a small amount from the Ontario Disability Support Program but isn't eligible for more because of Robert's job.
"No amount of money can make up for it," said Carolyn. "Even if I got $10 million right now, it can't make up for all the things I've missed out on."
But the two aren't looking for millions.
"I just want her to be comfortable," said Robert. "If she needs anything, she should have it." That could include a house with more room so there's less chance of Carolyn reinjuring herself.
The couple has just marked the 26th anniversary of their first date. No matter what comes next, they plan to face life's hurdles the way they always have. Together.
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