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Jason Hoff, of Crossfield, seen here with a sprint car, has been selected to take part in the 2012 Rick Hansen Relay, Feb. 29.

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Crossfield resident chosen as representative for Man in Motion Tour

Longtime Crossfield man Jason Hoff has been chosen by the Town to be the medal bearer for the 2012 Rick Hansen Relay, celebrating 25 years since the first Man in Motion Tour.

The tour will be coming through Airdrie and Crossfield on Feb. 29 and Hoff said he is honoured to represent the town he has lived in since 1991.

“I think this is a pretty neat honour,” said Hoff. “It is a real honour to be able to be a part of something like that and to bring awareness to the issues disabled people have with trying to get around and the challenges we are faced with.”

Hoff spent most of his youth growing up in Crossfield and graduated from W.G. Murdoch High School. After graduating, he went on to work in the oil and gas industry in drilling and testing. He was working on an offshore rig in 1997 when, in his off time, he was in a snowmobile accident in Sparwood, B.C., that left him paralyzed.

“Just getting up in the morning and the amount of time it takes is a challenge,” he said.

“You can’t just jump out of bed and go. There is a lot more planning involved for things you didn’t even think of before.”

Although his recovery was challenging, he was out of the hospital within two months, he said.

“I was bullheaded and wanted to get on with my life and get out and do things by myself, for myself,” he said.

During his recovery, the residents of Crossfield banded together and supported him by holding a benefit auction. It was with those funds that he was able to put himself through SAIT and re-educate himself in a trade working with small engines.

He was also able to purchase the land that his business, Crossfield Power Equipment - Small Engine Repairs and Services, is located on today. He repairs quads, lawn tractors, mowers and even snowmobiles.

“I don’t know how to put into words how that made me feel,” he said.

“It was very special that the community came together and would stand behind me like that.”

Cheryl Todd Shergold, Hoff’s common-law wife of eight years, said she hopes his story touches people to help make the world more accessible and inclusive for all people with disabilities

“There was never a moment in his life since the accident that he felt like he couldn’t do something,” she said.

“In fact quite the opposite, Jason is a very active paraplegic. Aside from running his own business in Crossfield since 1998, Jason has been involved in Baby Grand Stock Car Racing as crew chief and part owner of two cars. Most recently, he has become involved in sprint car racing, again as crew chief, but also as a driver. They have modified one of the sprint cars with hand controls so that he can participate in a sport that has been a passion for him his whole life.”

Hoff has loved mechanics all his life.

“I enjoy trying to figure out how to make things work,” he said. “I like trying to make a faster machine and figuring things out.”

Todd Shergold has four children and Hoff said being disabled hasn’t taken away from his ability to be a dad.

“Just because someone has been involved in an accident and is disabled, there is still a lot we can do,” he said. “I think they (the children) just see me as the same person.”

Hoff started a scholarship under Crossfield Power Equipment that provides an award to a student who stood out in the Registered Apprenticeship Trade program.

“(I hope that) whatever adversity that you may be facing, that you always just try to create and live a life of happiness,” he said.

Please consider donating to the Rick Hansen Relay on the website www.rickhansenrelay.com