TWO REAL LIVE HEROES
AGAINST THE ODDS

By Dr. Martin Collis

At Speakwell we have heroes, they inspire us and constantly remind us what is possible when passion and purpose collide. In my own life I have been lucky enough, not only to admire my heroes from afar, but to work with some, coach others and call a number of them my friends.

SIMON IBELL

The doors of history swing on small hinges and I can remember a moment 5 years ago when I first met Simon Ibell. My Human Potential class at University of Victoria was always oversubscribed and the physical constraints of the lecture hall meant that I had to turn some students away, rather like stand-by passengers who don't make it onto a plane. On one occasion I recall reading the names of those who had been accepted and then realizing that there were only a few students packing their books and heading for the door in search of another class. I made a quick decision and told everyone to stay, hoping the fire marshal wouldn't check out my class.

One of the people who got that last minute reprieve was Simon. I recognized him as the manager of the University's National Champion basketball team. There was always a wonderful sense of incongruity watching Simon at work with the basketball team, for Simon is 4ft. 8ins tall and many of the players he worked with were 2 feet taller. I also knew that Simon had battled to get accepted into the Dept. of Physical Education, steadfastly maintaining that his physical disabilities in no way constituted a handicap. Now I was about to get to know Simon, the man.

Simon has a genetic condition known as MPS (Mucopolysacharridosis) which is an enzyme deficiency where the body is missing a critical enzyme, iduronidase. The missing enzyme is a major problem and many of the children born with MPS don't live to see their 10th birthday. (The only positive thing one can say about MPS is that it's rare, affecting only one in 125,000 people.) The most visible outcome of MPS is its impact on growth hormone which leaves people like Simon well short of their predicted height, which in his case was 6ft 3ins. If it were just decreased stature MPS wouldn't be too bad, but it makes its presence felt in many unpleasant ways.

(a) Without iduronidase joints aren't lubricated and arthritis sets in. This can lead to spinal pain, difficulty in movement and lack of manual dexterity.

(b) Sacharrides congeal behind the ear-drums making them inflexible and causing hearing loss.

(c) Organs become enlarged.

Simon escaped the neurological damage which often accompanies MPS and, in the words of his father, has a 'will of iron'. His parents took him all over the world in search of a cure that turned out to be nonexistent, and at 14 years of age, Simon decided to get on with his life. And what a life it has become.

He endured ridicule and teasing as a young boy because he was different from his peers in appearance, but by the time he reached high school, his fellow students were won over by his courage, his sense of humor, his passion for sport and love of life. As manager of his high school (St. Michael's University School) basketball team he established an unbreakable bond with the star player, Steve Nash. Like all great friendships Simon and Steve brought out the best in each other.

After graduation from high school the two young men went their separate remarkable ways but remained friends. Steve took the one U.S. basketball scholarship offered him at Santa Clara University and Simon entered the University of Victoria.

STEVE'S STORY

There was no missing iduronidase in the makeup of Steve Nash. His father was a professional soccer player and his mother played for England at netball. Steve grew to 6ft 3ins, about the height that Simon would have attained were it not for MPS.

I first got to know Steve and his family through soccer. I ran a soccer camp in the summers and Steve's dad, John, would always take some vacation time to help coach and have the pleasure of watching Steve and his brother Martin, develop into soccer prodigies. Steve was ambitious and an obvious professional athlete in the making. He played many sports but it was clear to his father and me that, if he went the professional route, his best chance was as a soccer player. But Steve fell in love with basketball and decided he wanted to play in the NBA. The odds of a 6ft 3in Canadian kid from Victoria even getting close to the NBA were off the scale. The handful of Canadians that made it to the league were tall enough to be noticed by the college scouts, who know that the one thing you can't coach is height.

However, any team with Steve Nash as a point guard seemed to overachieve in an extraordinary way and in hindsight a familiar pattern has emerged. At high school he captained his AA institution to win the AAA provincial title in Hoosier-like fashion. The small Santa Clara University more than once went improbably deep into the 'Big Dance' of the NCAA Tournament. Under Steve's leadership, the Canadian National team not only qualified for the Olympics, but defeated the host Australian team and powerhouses Russia and Yugoslavia, before bowing to France. Steve Nash left the court in tears feeling that he'd failed to deliver a medal to his country. He went in the 1st round of the NBA draft to Phoenix and served an apprenticeship with the legendary Jason Kidd before moving on to Dallas and a 33 million dollar contract. The Dallas team is well named the Mavericks. Their owner is irrepressible dot com billionaire, Mark Cuban, and the head coach, Don Nelson, is one of the most unorthodox in the history of pro. basketball. The team is a veritable United Nations, with its Canadian point guard passing off to players from U.S.A., France, China, Mexico and Germany. This year the unlikely Mavericks are one of the top three teams in basketball. Recently, Steve and his best friend and teammate Dirk Nowitzki were selected to join the top 25 players in the world at the NBA All Star game. The West All Stars won and typically, Steve led all players in assists. At half time Steve was the featured player in a Nike ad. which said, 'When Steve Nash listed his life goals, appearing in the NBA All Star game was only half way up the list. - Next?'

In case this sounds too good to be true, it never came easily for Steve. After he arrived in Dallas he played through nearly two seasons of injuries and his performance and statistics suffered. The Dallas Morning News referred to him as, 'The worst trade in the history of the franchise.' It's at times like this that he needed a role model and friend like Simon Ibell. I've got goose bumps just writing this, you see Steve is much more than a successful athlete, he is a successful person. He has used some of his salary to quietly fund programs and charities he believes in. When the Grizzlies left Vancouver to relocate to Memphis, abandoning their 3-year commitment to youth basketball in Vancouver, Steve picked up the tab. When Dallas played in Seattle on Feb. 12th Steve paid for 250 young players to be bused down from Vancouver for the game. He also asked his coach if he could pay for better transportation and facilities for the under-funded Olympic team. He never forgets the coaches, family and friends who supported him in his quest for success. Which takes us right back to his friendship with Simon.

SIMON IBELL'S MISSIONS

Simon has two missions in life, which are to help fund research into MPS and to deliver a message to the world, particularly to kids, that differences are not deficiencies. He says, 'I believe I have MPS for a reason, because I can deal with it.' (Notice that the first four letters of I believe spell out Simon Ibell's last name.) When Lance Armstrong was struggling with cancer he said, 'I believed in belief for its own shining sake.'

To help raise awareness about MPS Simon is planning a 'Bike 4 MPS' ride on Vancouver Island this summer.

He's learned that it's tough to get sponsorship for a disease that nobody seems to have heard of. One apparently dyslexic person was heard to remark, 'I'm not giving money for PMS.' But Simon is a role model for the role models and some of Canada's world ranked athletes such as Olympic triathlete gold medallist, Simon Whitfield, and world champion mountain biker, Roland Green, were on hand to launch 'Bike for MPS'. Roland is training with the Tour de France champion U.S. Postal Team and is planning to take Simon to the California training camp to meet Lance Armstrong. (Lance is a great story in his own right.) Simon is also contacting Oprah as a potential guest for her show.

Now the story gets really good. Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, has a history of being fined for criticizing officials. His response is always to double the fine by giving a matching amount to charity. Early in January he sent a check to Simon for $125,000 for 'Bike 4 MPS'. (This story would be a natural for Sports Illustrated. S.I. salutes S.I.)

So there are my friends Simon and Steve, whose passion, purpose and sense of gratitude make them quite extraordinary. They are fortunate to have parents who gave unconditional love to all their children and gave unconditional support to their impossible dreams.

To learn more about and contribute to 'Bike 4 MPS' visit www.bike4mps.org or email: bike4mps@hotmail.com. Click here to read the Bike 4 MPS News Release.