Wapiti Nordic Ski Club is looking to help bring together Grande Prairie’s skiing community for a good cause. The club is hosting a fundraiser aimed at raising enough to purchase a sit-ski for one of its members.
Angela Oakley lost part of her left leg below the knee in 2016 to bone infection and is currently battling infection in what remains of the same leg. Oakley says if she loses her leg above the knee to the infection, she may never stand-ski again, thus requiring a sit-ski to continue being able to be active in and enjoy her hobby.
“What’s left of my left leg may let me stand ski again one day, but right now we have to be so careful with it that I won’t even have a prosthetic leg again for months,” she says in a GoFundMe fundraiser. “Even if we save my knee I may not be able to stand ski again and the sit-ski offers an alternative way to be part of the ski community here in Grande Prairie.”
Oakley is looking to raise $3,000 in order to afford a modified sit-ski which would be imported from Colorado. The Wapiti Nordic Ski Club is asking people who participate to consider donating a dollar to Oakley for every kilometre they ski through the lodge on Saturday.
Oakley adds she hopes to begin teaching other para nordic skiers once she begins to master the sit-ski. Though generic sit skis are able to be used for learning, Oakley says the device needs to be calibrated for the specific needs of the skier to really allow the user to get the most out of it.
The fundraiser is being hosted on January 9th at the Wapiti Nordic Ski Club. Volunteers will be collecting donations from 12 p.m. until 3 p.m. at the lodge parking lot. Donations can also be made to Oakley’s GoFundMe page.