One year and a life-threatening blood clot later, Martin Parnell finally delivered the keynote speech he never had the chance to.
In February of 2015, Parnell flew out to Winnipeg to speak at the Recreation Connections Manitoba conference. Little did he know, instead of delivering his speech, he would be put into an induced coma after doctors discovered a large blood clot in his brain.
“The week before I was having these migraines, and I wasn’t feeling well – but who knew what it was, so my doctor just gave me some painkillers and I flew out,” recalled Parnell, a Cochrane local who, for the past six years, has dedicated his time to inspiring others and helping children all over the world.
“In 2010, following a 25-year mining career, Martin started his “Quest for Kids” initiative. Over the next five years he completed 10 “Quests”. These included running 250 marathons in one year, setting five Guinness World Records and summiting Mount Kilimanjaro in 21 hours. “At the end of 2014 over $1.3 million had been raised for the humanitarian organization Right To Play and 27,000 children had been given the gift of hope,” states his website, martinparnell.com
“When I arrived at my hotel the night before I was supposed to speak, I was so sick and my migraines were really debilitating me so the organizer said they were taking me to the hospital,” Parnell said.
That evening the doctors at Grace Hospital in Winnipeg performed a CT scan on Parnell, special X-ray tests that produce cross-sectional images of the body using X-rays and a computer, and sent him back to his hotel.
“First thing the next morning they said, ‘You have to come in, we found a clot.’ So I went back to the hospital and they put me in an induced coma for 24 hours.”
Essentially, Parnell was told by his physicians that had he waited much longer, the clot would have been fatal. Since then, he has been in the recovery phase of his treatment. He was forced to give up running marathons until he was in better health. Through the use of medications and an adjusted lifestyle, the blood clot has shrunk about 75 per cent.
While his marathons have helped thousands of children and raised over $1 million, Parnell can now say they also helped save his life too.
“One thing the specialist said is thank goodness I was fit when I became sick because he explained one of the main issues when people get something like this, it’s the other parts of the body that start to fail.”
“It’s not ‘if’ something is going to happen to you, it’s really ‘when’.”
Now Parnell is finally back to running marathons again, with his first of the year being the Calgary Marathon in May. He is still meeting with specialists to keep an eye on the clot.
He’s also refocused how he lives his life, choosing to spend as much time as possible with his wife Sue and still helping as many children as he can.
“It’s just made me even more focused on helping kids, either locally or overseas, the ones who are disadvantaged. Anything I can do.
“I’m very lucky – with the support I’ve had and with the help to get through this.”
Ironically, the conference Parnell has some unfinished business with is about overcoming obstacles. Hard to imagine what his keynote speech will be about!
