Selyn Barrette doesn’t have any memories of her dad, Ken, walking; he became wheelchair-bound when Selyn was just 4 years old.
Ken, formerly a contractor and currently a resident of Nipomo, was diagnosed with possible multiple sclerosis in 1991—but all of the tests came back negative. Further tests and research showed that during his time as a contractor, Ken was exposed in 1982 to a poisonous industrial chemical that contained neurotoxins. That chemical is now illegal.
But it was too late for Ken. His wife, Mary, said the effects of the neurotoxins hit her husband hard and fast, starting with weakness in his limbs, putting him into a manual wheelchair in just four years. He eventually had to switch to an electric wheelchair.
At the time, Selyn and her younger sister, Krista, didn’t fully understand what was happening.
“It was a life-changing experience,” Mary said. “That’s the best way I can describe it.”
Mary runs a home-based business and was able to take care of Ken while working from home.
“It could be a sad story, but our family overcame the issues and we maintain a positive attitude,” Selyn said
Despite the unfortunate turn of events, Ken didn’t let the drastic changes affect his approach to life, and that’s why he has been nominated as a local hero in the Life Moving Forward Contest.
The National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association (NMEDA) holds the contest each year in recognition of National Mobility Awareness Month. The association is giving away three wheelchair-accessible vehicles as prizes. The final day to submit votes is May 13.
Selyn said her dad would never consider himself a hero, but she and others in the community say otherwise. She said Ken is very optimistic, humorous, and brings a smile to the face of anyone he meets. His sense of humor is something that he will never lose.
“In a way I’m thankful, because if he hadn’t become sick, I wouldn’t know him as well,” Selyn said, adding that she and her sister enjoyed getting to come home from school to find their dad already waiting for them.
Selyn said that her father has always been very involved in both of his daughters’ activities and encouraged them to take their education seriously.
“Once my dad became sick, he figured out that education was very important,” Selyn said. “He said that even if you lose the ability to walk, you will never lose your brain.”
Nigel Smith, a former Nipomo High School drama student, has known Ken and Selyn for six years.
“Ken is very kind and inspirational. He always has a positive outlook and he has owned his handicap,” Smith said.
Ken remembers when a wheelchair became a part of his life. He said that all he could think about was what he was losing and why it was happening to him.
“I had always been a strong guy, a go-getter, and even now there are times that I think that I am going to walk again,” Ken said in an interview with the Sun.
For Ken, being bound to a wheelchair is just a temporary setback, but in the meantime, he refuses to sit around and think negatively.
“It doesn’t do any good to complain; it’s counterproductive. I want to enjoy life—I enjoy what I can do,” Ken said.
One of the major thrills in Ken’s life comes from helping out with the Nipomo High School drama program and getting to watch the kids grow from shy introverts to budding extroverts. He and his wife have been involved with drama since the school first opened. Mary works as a costume designer, and Ken uses his contracting knowledge to help build sets.
Smith and Selyn both said the kids in the drama department see Ken as a mentor and a friend. But, according to Selyn, helping out at the high school serves a dual purpose for her dad.
“He wants to show kids that being disabled doesn’t mean that he is unable; you don’t have to be shut out from the world because you can’t walk,” she said.
Ken agreed: “I think it’s important that the stigma of someone in a wheelchair is taken away; I want kids to not be afraid of different things.”
Ken is also an advocate for public facility accessibility for people with limited mobility. If he goes to a facility with limited handicapped access, he speaks with the manager and offers a solution to the problem.
Ken said he could sit around in his room all day and mourn what has happened, but he chooses to be active and take in all that life has to offer.
“When you are dealt lemons, you make lemonade,” he said. Spoken like a true hero. m
Contact Staff Writer Kristina Sewell at ksewell@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 26 – May 3, 2012.