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A prominent boxer who started his career in Red Deer at the age of 17 disagrees with Canadian and American pediatricians who urge youth under the age of 19 to stay out of the boxing ring.

The Canadian Paediatric Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics jointly released a report on Monday condemning youth involvement in amateur boxing because the sport presents a high risk of head injury.

But Arash Usmanee argued the report unfairly singled out boxing because athletes involved in various sports are susceptible to injuries such as concussions.

“Let’s be real, (boxing) is a contact sport. Injuries could occur, but it’s so rare” said Usmanee, who was raised in Red Deer and is currently ranked ninth in the world in the super featherweight division according to the World Boxing Association.

“It could happen in any sport.”

The report acknowledged overall risk of injury is lower in boxing than sports like hockey, football, wrestling and soccer. The pediatric organizations, however, take issue with boxing as it “encourages and rewards direct blows to the head and face.”

Deliberate punches to the head put boxers at significant risk for brain injuries such as concussions, the report says.

Concussions are especially concerning in young people, as they are more vulnerable to injury. The recovery process is also longer for children and teenagers than for adults.

The pediatric groups, therefore, took the stance that youth boxing be banned in North America, and that blows to the head be eliminated until that time.

Usmanee scoffed at the recommendation.

“Why don’t we just start wearing some loafers. What do they want, a bunch of little twinkle dancers?” he said. “This is boxing. When it comes down to it, you punch the guy.

“They’re trying to make it so safe that people are running away from it. Boxing has become so safe, it’s pushing away the true fans.”

Red Deer Boxing Club founder Rob Carswell applauded the measure keeping boxers safe, especially the younger participants.

“We try and ensure that nothing ever happens to kids. Injuries are something we take the utmost precaution to prevent,” he said of his club that offers recreation boxing to anyone as young as 10.

“It’s hard for me to remember any kid who has got injured over and above of course the bruises and the weeping, little bloody nose.”

Carswell said young amateur boxers wear protective head gear and padded gloves that absorb 60 per cent of the punch, and that kids are evenly matched for size and skill when they spar.

The report highlights some of the safety precautions the sport takes to protect the athletes, he said. This includes the fact that referees can end a fight for any number of reasons and that medical professionals are always ringside.

Carswell added some of his younger boxers go an entire year without sparring.

But the president of the Brain Injury Association of Alberta argued youth should not participate in boxing until head shots are taken out of the game.

“It’s not worth it because there are so many other sports that kids can be involved in that don’t involve a high risk for head injury,” said Meloni Lyon.

“If the boxing world were to identify that yeah, this is a risk . . . and put in a specific rule set that they don’t take head shots, that would be a different story entirely.”

Head injuries are the leading cause of death and disability across Canada for people between the ages of one and 44, she said. And there are 10,000 new head injuries in Alberta every year, half of which are caused by trauma. Strokes make up the other half.

Lyon said children do not have to lose consciousness to suffer a concussion. And while one concussion may only cause temporary issues, repeated injuries to the brain can result in permanent damage, she said.

This can include impacting cognitive functioning, short-term memory and the ability to process information.

“I wish more parents were aware that these risks exist, and especially when it comes to things like amateur sports,” Lyon said.

“Your kids are at high enough risk when they ride a bike without a helmet. Why put them in a boxing ring?”

She urged parents to “err on the side of caution” when registering children for sports by choosing activities that don’t involve bodily collisions such as biking, swimming, badminton or tennis.

For contact sports — such as football, which is one of Lyon’s favourites — she stressed the importance of wearing protective head gear.

Visit www.biaa.ca for more information about concussions, including symptoms.

ptrotter@reddeeradvocate.com

Water consumption isn’t taken lightly in the Fleming household — even stale water left in the dog dish.

Whatever liquid the dog doesn’t lick up is used to hydrate the flower pots in Diane and Don Fleming’s award-winning yard.

The Red Deer couple won the city’s naturescaping contest last summer for transforming their outdoor space into a water-friendly sanctuary.

It was just one of the many projects the Flemings have taken on over the past six years to become more water wise.

They have cut back on their water usage by starting small and building on it.

“It all takes time and it’s a work in progress. But it all adds up and makes a difference,” Diane said.

The couple replaced most of their grass with a vegetable garden, shrubbery, flowers, mulching and stonework.

Plants that thrive in warm and dry conditions decorate the yard’s sunniest spots and two rain barrels provide all the needed water.

Indoors, Diane and Don have replaced various fixtures with water-efficient alternatives.

Three of their four toilets are low-flow, as are all three of their shower heads.

They have high-efficiency washer, dryer and hot water tank, and they are looking into purchasing a high-efficiency dishwasher.

Residents are being asked to follow in the Flemings’ footsteps by cutting back on water usage this summer. This is the season when consumption levels jump by as much as 50 per cent in normal summers, thanks in large part to lawn watering and car washing.

And the City of Red Deer shares Diane’s belief that small steps can result in a measurable decrease in consumption.

“Water conservation is not about changing people’s quality of life,” said Nathalie Viau, performance reporting co-ordinator with the city.

“It’s a behaviour change that where asking for.”

Cutting back can be as easy, she said.

Turn the water off when brushing your teeth. Fix a leaky faucet. Opt for a quick shower over bathing in a tub filled to the brim. Keep a pitcher of water in the fridge instead of running the tap until the water turns cold. Water your lawn less. Only water your lawn and garden early in the morning or late in the day to avoid rapid evaporation. Use rain barrels.

Then, if you can afford it, replace old appliances and fixtures with water-efficient ones.

Another one of Viau’s suggestions: stop buying bottled water.

“The impact of a bottled water is huge,” she said, explaining that it takes five litres of water to just manufacture one plastic one-litre bottle.

Using municipal water over bottled will also save you money. You can get more than 1,000 litres of tap water for roughly the price one 500-ml bottle of water.

But accessible, clean water available for cheap has likely contributed to North American’s wasteful water habits, Viau said.

On average, local residents use twice the amount of water in one day than do Europeans, who pay significantly more than the 74 cents per 1,000 litres that Red Deerians are charged.

“We place very little value on the water because there’s very little financial value placed on it,” said Todd Nivens, program co-ordinator at the Kerry Wood Nature Centre.

“We do act in a fairly wasteful manner around water.”

Much like increasing prices sees the demand for gas decrease, Nivens and Viau believe higher water prices may result in residents using less water.

But increasing costs will most likely only result in a temporary change, both agreed, saying the best way to improve water habits is to educate residents.

To do so, the city runs programs such as the Water-Wise Naturescaping Contest and the newly-launched school tour of the Water Treatment Plant.

The Kerry Wood Nature Centre strives to lead by example. The centre has a water-free urinal. Every toilet in the building is low-flow, and the staff shower head is low-flow. Rainwater is caught in barrels. The centre saves 30,000 litres of water each year just from the one water-free urinal.

“(People need to) understand our water supply isn’t infinite and it’s pretty fragile,” Nivens said.

The current high level of the Red Deer River should not be mistaken as a guarantee for an abundant supply of life’s most vital source well into the future, he said.

Global warming — evident in the receding Columbia Glacier — growing communities, oil and gas production, and agriculture all put a strain on water availability.

Nivens pointed to Victoria as an example because that city routinely suffers water shortages in the summer despite its waterside location.

In Calgary, he added, experts figure the Bow River will reach its viability balance — where the amount of water taken out of the river equals the amount of water going into the river from its source — by 2013.

The Red Deer River is nowhere near its viability balance yet, Nivens said, but people should still be concerned about how much water they’re using.

He reiterated the message of starting small.

“Quite often, it’s just quite as simple as turning a tap off,” Nivens said.

The Red Deer River Watershed Alliance also has tips on how to conserve water. Visit http://www.rdrwa.ca/?page_id=147 to see the simple but effective suggestions.

ptrotter@reddeeradvocate.com

The Norwegian Laft Hus Museum in Red Deer has opened a book of condolences for Norway to help local residents and those of the Scandinavian country cope with the violent July 22 attacks that claimed 77 lives.

“I think it gives people an opportunity for a little bit of a healing process, to express how they feel,” said Syneva Baltimore, a museum volunteer. “And when they get it, the book, they’ll feel better because they’ll know the world is with them.”

On Tuesday, the Norwegian-Canadian and her sister, Anne Manca, who is visiting from Edmonton, discussed the bombing and shooting massacre that took Norwegians and the world by surprise.

“I was shocked when I heard about it and I still am,” Balitmore said.

“They don’t do that stuff in Norway.”

Manca agreed, saying the violent acts that rocked the peaceful country were just as alarming as the loss of life.

Andres Behring Breivik, 32, confessed to killing a total of 77 people by bombing the Norwegian government quarter in Oslo and in a shooting spree at an youth summer camp hosted by the Labor Party on Utoya Island.

Baltimore and Manca have 14 cousins who live in Norway, most within an hour of Oslo.

One cousin’s son-in-law works in downtown Oslo and a piece of a car flew threw his office window when the bomb went off, Baltimore said. He was uninjured but shaken up.

The women’s cousins have sent emails to say things are slowly returning to a state of normal despite the fact that most Norwegians have lost their sense of safety.

The museum set the book of condolences out last week and a handful of pages have since been marked with messages of heartfelt sympathy.

People from Red Deer, Lacombe, Stettler, Calgary, Chilliwack and Washington State all expressed disbelief while offering encouraging words for Norwegians.

“They’ve suffered such a shock and such a loss,” Manca said.

“It’ll certainly help to know other people are feeling your same pain.”

The book will be open until mid-August for those who wish to share their condolences. It will be delivered to the Norwegian Consulate in Edmonton later this month.

The museum is in Heritage Square, which is located behind the Recreation Centre at 4402-47 Ave. It is open Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.

ptrotter@reddeeradvocate.com

Amanda Lindhout’s steadfast dedication to empower Somalian people through education has taken her to the world’s largest refugee camp in Kenya.

This is the Red Deer native’s first trip back to Africa since being kidnapped in 2008 and held hostage for 15 months in Somalia — the country that neighbours her current location.

“Returning to Africa to support the Somali people is part of my life’s work,” Lindhout told the Advocate by email on Wednesday.
“It was confronting for me to come back, but I did because I refuse to let fear stop me from fulfilling my life’s purpose, which is to work to create positive change for the Somali people.”

In an effort to help the people of Somalia, the former freelance journalist established the Global Enrichment Foundation just months after 460 days of captivity, during which she endured physical abuse and mental torment.

The goal of the foundation — which celebrated its first anniversary on May 13 — is to provide education, health and economic opportunities to the people of the wartorn country.

The decision to expand the foundation’s programming to help Somalian refugees in Kenya brought Lindhout to Dadaab on Saturday.

The overcrowded and chronically underfunded refugee camp near the Kenya-Somalia border is home to some 380,000 refugees, and nearly all are Somalian.

Lindhout was disturbed to learn there is only enough room to educate 41,000 of the some 150,000 children in the camp.

So the foundation will soon embark on a fundraising campaign to ensure every child at Dadaab will be given the opportunity to have an education. Funds raised will build schools and teacher training centres.

“I believe with every part of my being that the kids in this camp are the future of Somalia and that if given the tools to educate and empower themselves, they will be the ones to return to Somalia to create the kind of leadership that will transform the country,” Lindhout said.

“The educational model we will create focuses on leadership training, peace building and conflict resolution.”

But lack of education is only part of the dire situation at Dadaab.

The three refugee camps — Dagahaley, Ifo and Hagadera, collectively known as Dadaab — were established when the Somalian civil war broke out in 1991.

Twenty years later, thousands continue to arrive at Dadaab every day to escape the persistent violence and the worst drought in 60 years that has ravaged their homeland in the Horn of Africa.

Aid agencies are overwhelmed and struggling to keep up with the camp’s swelling population, Lindhout said.

Those who arrive are extremely malnourished, especially the children.

“The stories within the camp are staggering,” she said. “I find it hard to put into words this degree of human suffering.”
Lindhout shared the story of Safia Mohamed, a woman waiting to be registered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the camp.

Mohamed and her six children, ages five months to five years, walked for 20 days from their home in Kismayo, Somalia, to reach Dadaab. Lindhout said all of the children were emaciated and malnourished.

Other mothers, however, saw their children die along the way due to hunger, she said.

Water is scarce and new refugees are given food rations and plastic tents.

The overcrowded camp was originally built for 90,000 but is now housing four times that.

The UN Refugee Agency anticipates that there will be 450,000 people in the camp by the end of the year.
“We cannot stand by and watch a crisis like this unfold,” Lindhout said. “We must do whatever we can to help.”

The foundation will begin a large fundraising campaign when Lindhout returns home to raise money to give the children in Dadaab an education.

Donations can now be made online at www.globalenrichmentfoundation.com.

Lindhout will leave Kenya on July 26 and will attend a foundation fundraiser in Egypt before heading back to Canada.

This week, the foundation will also choose the next 25 recipients of the Somali Women’s Scholarship Program. The inaugural scholarships were awarded to 11 young Somalian women pursuing post-secondary education in 2010.

CBC has accompanied Lindhout to Kenya and will air a documentary of her return to Africa on The National sometime in the fall.
ptrotter@reddeeradvocate.com

Standing at the summit of Mount Everest, Phil Bota called his family and friends across the world, telling them of the breathtaking Himalayan range in front of him.

“The view is fantastic. It’s beautiful,” the 22-year-old said during the five-minute satellite phone call he made home to Red Deer from the top of the world.

A group of about 40 gathered at the Capri Hotel late Wednesday afternoon, anxiously waiting for the quick call that came in before 7:40 p.m.

“The reason I’m here right now is because of all of you,” Bota said, thanking the community that rallied behind him and his dream to scale the tallest mountain. (read more)

The men used to work for the Slave Lake Fire Department and both have relatives living in the town that was evacuated over the weekend, said Red Deer fire chief Jack MacDonald.

They left Monday to join the more than 120 urban firefighters arriving from across the province to help battle the blaze that has damaged or destroyed up to one-third of Slave Lake.

“Right now they just need people who know their way around, so we sent the two that do,” he said.

“They’re familiar with the terrain. They’ll know where they can get water, where the roads go. All that local knowledge will be invaluable.”

They will remain in Slave Lake as long as their services are required, MacDonald said.

Air Spray, which runs its forest fire air tanker operation out of the Red Deer Regional Airport, is now fully deployed with all of its 13 aircrafts battling some of the 115 wildfires burning across Alberta, 36 of which are out of control.

The company has been primarily focusing its efforts on the fires burning at Slave Lake and near Fort McMurray, said Air Spray vice-president Paul Lane.

Crews were fighting the Slave Lake blaze all day Sunday and were out again on Monday.

Dry conditions and fierce winds that reached upwards of 100 km/h created one of the worst Alberta wildfires that Lane can recall.

“This one just took off unbelievably. At one stage there, our guys were saying Mother Nature had taken over and was putting on a show,” he said.

“This is just as bad as it gets.”

The fire ripped through Slave Lake on Sunday night, resulting in the mandatory evacuation of the town’s 7,000 residents.

The town hall, library and numerous homes were destroyed in the blaze.

Air Spray was also evacuated from its base in town.

Lane said pilots were diverted to Whitecourt, which is roughly 200 km south of Slave Lake, because it was the nearest base available.

Both Lane and MacDonald said the one positive to come out of this disaster is that there have been no injuries or deaths reported.

“In the mist of a horrible story, the good news is nobody’s died,” MacDonald said.

“But this is an opportunity for people to help their neighbours.”

Central Albertans can donate to the Canadian Red Cross by calling 403-346-1241, visiting www.redcross.ca or going into the Red Deer office at #105, 5301 43 St., which is located behind The Vat.

ptrotter@reddeeradvocate.com

The two Red Deer men hoping to summit Mount Everest later this month will now attempt to do so with their team leader some 11,600 km away.

Experienced mountaineer Manuel Pizarro, 40, arrived home in Montreal on May 5 after a heart-scare brought to an end his quest to become the first Canadian to successfully scale the world’s tallest peak three times. He summited in 2007 and 2009.

Pizarro is disappointed but remains fully committed in helping Steve Barahona, 28, and Phil Bota, 22, reach the mountain crest in their first attempt.

“Even though I’m home, my job is still to lead the team up,” he said Tuesday.

The three talk at least once a day via satellite phone despite the 10-hour time difference between Montreal and Mount Everest, which towers 8,850 metres above sea level in the Himalayan range at the Nepal-China border.

Pizarro will continue to guide the men by phone for the remainder of their journey even though he appointed a new ascent leader to physically lead them up the mountain.

During these conversations, Barahona and Bota update Pizarro on their vitals, wellbeing and supplies before discussing the day’s plan.

On Tuesday, Pizarro instructed the Red Deer residents to test all of their technical equipment such as boots, crampons and harnesses by hiking up the glacier at advanced base camp, which stands at more than 6,100 metres (20,100 feet).

Pizarro believes tackling Mount Everest from a day-by-day approach will increase the chance of summiting — something he is confident Barahona, Bota and the three accompanying Sherpas will accomplish sometime during the week of May 23.

He said Barahona and Bota are both extremely fit, take direction well and are logistically prepared. Pizarro has also previously worked with all three of the Sherpas, who have 12 successful summits between them.

And the Red Deerians have been respectful and eager to participate in spiritual ceremonies, something Pizarro believes will help keep them out of harm’s way.

Still, he knows Everest presents many risks.

“(I’m) proceeding with their safety in mind and not the allure of the summit.”

Pizarro said brushing his ego aside and deciding to discontinue his hunt of a new Canadian mountain climbing record proves he puts safety first.

He started experiencing chest pain and flu-like symptoms as the crew was acclimatizing at more than 5,100 metres (17,000 feet). Barahona, a Red Deer fire-medic, assessed Pizarro and it was decided they should descend to a lower altitude.

But Pizarro’s symptoms did not lessen at more than 3,600 metres (12,000 feet).

He was airlifted to a cardiology clinic in Kathmandu, Nepal, where a surgeon initially believed Pizarro’s abnormal heartbeat was caused by a blocked artery.

An angiogram proved this wasn’t the case but the artery did have some damage, something the doctor believed was caused by Pizarro’s two previous Everest summits.

Pizarro listened to the doctor’s orders and pulled out of his third attempt. It was the first time he suffered such a setback in the 20 years he’s been climbing.

Pizarro has a cardiology appointment today and said he’s feeling much better although somewhat dejected for not being able to make history.

“Having been so close . . . I have to force myself to psychologically remind myself that this was the right decision.”

He said it would have been an “unacceptable irony” if he died of heart failure during the climb that is raising money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation in honour of Bota’s dad, who died of a massive heart attack 10 years ago.

Bota’s mother, Jean, said news of Pizarro’s condition did cause her some distress.

But she is relieved he is feeling better and still guiding her son and Barahona to the summit.

The proud mother, who is admittedly battling some nerves over her son’s adventurous attempt, is confident in the men’s ability to reach the summit.

“I’m worried, but in my heart I know they’ll be fine,” she said Tuesday.

Mother and son have been able to stay in contact by phone and email since Bota left early in April.

The team has been posting updates and pictures to www.climbforheartandstroke.com.

ptrotter@reddeeradvocate.com