Photo Courtesy: Warren Grafton

By Ben Tompkins

Inspirational

Local woman continues to live active lifestyle despite being a quadriplegic

Jun 15, 2021 | 8:02 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Chantelle Grafton was in a mountain biking accident two years ago that left her paralyzed from the neck down. She hasn’t let that deter her however, as she continues to live the active lifestyle she is accustomed to.

One of the things that she has continued to play a big part in is the karate world. She is very involved with her husband Warren as they both teach and have competed in karate.

She has a lot more going on in her life beyond karate however, as she likes to live that outdoor lifestyle that her and Warren have continued to do since her accident.

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“We’re very active people and we’re active in the community and just being outdoors it’s our lifestyle. I’m pretty fortunate the technology exists today that allows me to get around and be fairly mobile on my own.”

For the couple one of their main goals was to get back to the lifestyle that they lived pre-accident, as best they could. At the beginning it seemed bleak as they didn’t know if they would even be able to go for a walk.

“For eight months of that time it was just kind of trying to figure out how to have any resemblance of a normal life that we had previously. We were very active and always in the karate club or mountain biking, that sort of thing. So it was like we what do we do now? At the beginning it was hopefully we can go for a walk,” said Warren.

For Chantelle she has even bigger goals of getting on a mountain bike once again. Currently the technology which would allow her to do so is being worked on and isn’t quite ready. She is just excited however, that the possibility is on the horizon.

“It was my number one favourite recreational thing to do and just being outside and hopefully taking my dog out. It’s just a big part of who I am, so to have the means to access all of that again it’s just really exciting.”

For Warren, what’s been the most positive thing for him in this journey is watching Chantelle grow. He knows that there is a lot of work to do still, but the important part is that every day she continues to get better.

“Every day there’s some sort of improvement that we’ve seen and even just the ability to use her wheelchair better has made a big difference. We’re more confident. Obviously Chantelle still has significant disability but the fact that she’s back in the Karate Club yelling at students, now working towards coaching me at a national level, so that’s what we’re still trying to figure out.”