Canadian athlete Curt Minard inspires audiences throughout Canada as a motivational and safety speaker. He is a living example of how a worst nightmare can be turned into a dream. He lives by the motto “results are limitless if you believe in yourself.”
He had started a new job in British Columbia when his life was changed Sept. 13, 2008. He was working with his crew on a 25,000-volt power line. A co-worker made contact with an energized 14,400-volt power line and the electricity found Curt to ground. The electricity was 500 percent more than a human can survive and Curt’s body was being burned alive from the inside.
A quick response by onlookers and medical teams helped him survive but he had two other near death incidents while in the burn unit.
Curt started on a path of living a healthier and active lifestyle and that led him to the ice. He always had a passion for hockey and spent time relearning it with a prosthetic attachment. He worked hard and never gave up.
He had months of intense training for a comeback. Curt was invited to the National Amputee Hockey selection camp in Toronto, Ontario where he competed with between 60 to 70 amputees. He represented Canada on the 2012 Canadian National Amputee Hockey Team. They won the World Championships in Tampere, Finland and were crowned with the Golden Title.
That inspired Curt to try para snowboarding in 2016 and was invited to compete in the NorAM Cup and World Cup’s at the Big White. He won two gold medals there and placed sixth and seventh in World Cup events. He then went on to take bold in the Para Upper Limb Category in the 2016 Speed Nationals in Quebec. He was also on the national team for Canada Snowboard in 2016 and finished 6th overall in the world.
Curt inspires and motivates people from all over Canada with his overcoming attitude and determination. He is the right person to talk about the importance of safety and how to overcome any obstacle to become limitless.
