LIST OF CLUBS VISITED || KELVIN KERKOW STORY || ARCHIVE

On our journeys throughout Australia conducting our BCiB Promotional Days, one of the most commonly asked questions is “why does Kelvin need to utilise his stick when playing?”

With that in mind, we thought it best to give you all a brief outline of "The Life of Kelvin"!

It's a great story and one I'm sure you will enjoy.....

Kelvin was 8 years old and lived in the country at a placed called Kingaroy, well known for peanuts. One morning he went to get out of bed and found that his legs would not move prompting him to call on his parents to help him!

Kelvin was rushed to the local hospital where a doctor told him that he had Gillian-Barree Syndrome and that he was to be rushed to the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane by ambulance. Within a matter of hours he was totally paralysed and put on a life support system.

Kelvin then spent the next 3 months in intensive care on a life support system before slowly starting to recover and he was transferred to a normal ward able to now breathe but still not able to walk. Kelvin had movement in his arms but little strength and could not take any weight on his legs at all. He had to have extensive physiotherapy daily for months before beginning to learn to walk again. Kelvin's total time in hospital was 8 months but spent another further 2 years in a wheel chair before learning to walk again.

His parents (Joan & Ivan) had a nightmare coping with what had happened to him, with Joan having to stay in Brisbane with him while he slowly recovered. Ivan had to look after his 2 younger sisters and work a farm at the same time, making things very hard as you could under stand.

This was when Kelvin's bowls career began. When he was 12 he could not play any sports and bowls was something that he could play with the aid of a walking stick for balance which he still uses today.
Kelvin still has foot drop on his left leg which means he can not lift his left foot up at all it just flops around. He has endured several operations on his right ankle which has helped with the foot drop but now suffers more pain in this leg due to arthritis slowly getting worse each year. Kelvin is of the opinion that he will not have the other leg operated on at this stage. He enjoys being able to get out and compete at top level in bowls.

Well there's no doubt about that Kelvin. No doubt we all congratulate you on a stellar career thus far and I feel very confident in saying that there will be much more success yet! The greatest success of all is that you conquered this terrible disease and are around now with your family and friends and enjoying a quality life.

Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing your story with us all.

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