Warren Ray has always been a bit of a stubborn guy, determined to prove others wrong when they told him he couldn鈥檛 do something.
He鈥檚 also always been athletic.
Ray鈥檚 determination faced one of its greatest challenges in 2002 when an accident while he was in the military led to 80 per cent of his body being burned.
鈥淚 lost multiple digits on my hands,鈥� Ray said. Eventually his left foot was also amputated.
After the accident, Ray thought he would never be able to work out again. The nurses in Toronto who treated him, however, wouldn鈥檛 have it.
鈥淭hey wouldn鈥檛 let me quit,鈥� Ray recalled. 鈥淭he nurses there were not in the military, but they acted like it...they were really hard on me, in a good way.鈥�
Ray couldn鈥檛 walk when he first got back to the gym. At the time, he didn鈥檛 yet have a prosthetic foot, so he had to get around either by using crutches, or by crawling.
鈥淚 went to the gym on crutches...crawled on my knees to get around because it was faster,鈥� Ray said.
He said going to the gym takes a lot of stress away, and it helps him feel accomplished.
鈥淚t makes me feel good...it makes me feel confident,鈥� he said.
It certainly wasn't easy getting back into the gym, and Ray said he felt insecure. But he soon realized something about going to the gym 鈥� everybody there is working towards a goal, meaning they aren't yet at the point they aspire to be, and in that sense, he said, everybody is starting at the same spot.
鈥淭here aren鈥檛 many things in life you can say that about,鈥� Ray said,.
He said the gym is the most open place in the world, and there鈥檚 something there for everyone.
Now, Ray said he practically lives at the gym, and through it all he met his good friend Stefan Hall who owns Rebel Fit Nutrition in Williams Lake.
Hall trains for strongman competitions, and Ray soon found himself giving it a try.
Ray can鈥檛 do all the events in a strongman competition, but he鈥檚 sure to have done all the events he's capable of. He competed in his second ever strongman competition in May at the Eighth annual Cariboo鈥檚 Strongest in Williams Lake.
鈥淲arren exceeded his limitations and deadlifted his heaviest, personal best 320 pounds,鈥� wrote his wife, Cherie Ray, in an email to the Tribune. 鈥淎 man with so many limitations yet he defied them all. This is inspiration at its finest.鈥�
鈥淚f I didn鈥檛 become disabled, I would never have gotten into this,鈥� Ray said about participating in strongman competitions as well as powerlifting, which he also does.
"Being physically disabled limits you...but if you鈥檙e open-minded, it鈥檚 limitless in other aspects."
