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' FOURTH LINE AUTO ' G O O D Y E A R 'For Ail Your Car' s Needs Drive Clean Emission Testing Government Safety Inspection Tune-Ups · Brakes · Exhaust · Cooling Systems C M Approved Shop v 559 Speere Road (905)842-3001 y LIVING EDITOR: WILMA BLOKHUIS Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 250) Fax 905-337-5567 email blokhuis@haltonsearch.com · WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2006 11 A n a w a k e n in g f r o m a c o m a A u th o r m in e s h is `ic e b e rg ' to f in d s tre n g th fo r re c o v e ry By Wilma Blokhuis OAKVILLE LIVING EDITOR The iceberg is Paul Lamb's metaphor for Almost a decade ago, the consultant with the Ontario Ministry of Correctional Services was in a single car accident that put him into a coma for three weeks. Lamb, of Oakville, was a passenger in a police cruiser near Peterborough. It was Aug. 1996. He was 45 years old, at the peak of his career and married. "It was a clear night," he remembered, adding why the accident happened will always be a mystery "as there was nothing wrong with the cruiser or the driver. Weather was certainnot a factor." Lamb spent about seven months in hospital followed by six months at a rehabilitation cen tre. "I couldn't walk or talk," Lamb continued.. "I lost my self esteem, my confidence and self worth." His wife left him; he considered sui cide. But something - a desire to live - made him change his mind. Lamb left the hospital in a wheelchair but was determined to learn how to walk, talk, think straight and live independently while in rehabilitation. He was also determined to return to his work. "I'm a new person," he said recently. "I had to reinvent and rebuild myself from a very low functioning adult being pushed around by peo ple and life. I was backed into a corner until I decided enough was enough. "I use the iceberg as my metaphor for life. Most people only see the seven per cent of the iceberg that is above the water. I chose to explore the whole iceberg." Recently, he completed his first book, Exploring the Iceberg: Personal, Professional and Organization Growth, partly a "Coles Notes version of my accident" and partly a selfhelp book on recovery from the depths of despair and improving one's personal, profes sional and organizational growth, using the Iceberg Strategy he's developed. Lamb described Exploring the Iceberg as a composite book, and said his tips for organiza tional growth are equally applicable to work places and families. "I want to help people avoid being pushed around and become victim free," said Lamb. See I'm page 12 LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER STRATEGY FOR RECOVERY: Paul Lamb of Oakville wrote Exploring the Iceberg to describe his experience recovering from a coma suf fered almost 10 years ago and how his strategies can help other individuals, family and organizations.