1 7 Thursday, Septem ber 1, 2011 O A K V ILLE B EA V ER w w w .in sid eH A LTO N .co m LivingOakville Beaver LIVING EDITOR: ANGELA BLACKBURN Phone: 905-337-5560 e-mail: ablackburn@oakvillebeaver.com Nathan Howes OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Ron Newman has been given the gift of life 76 times in his life, and will be walking tall this month with a hope he can help others receive theirs. On Saturday, Sept. 10, the first Give the Gift of Life Walk in Oakville will take place to raise awareness and funds to assist kidney patients and their families. The walk means a great deal to the 54-year-old. In 2005, Newman was the recipient of a kidney trans- plant and last March he underwent his 76th operation. He first got involved with The Kidney Foundation of Canada as a peer mentor and volunteer in 1996, a year after he started dialysis, he said. I got to be involved in sympo- siums and Ive met a lot of people. I know a couple of people who passed away when they had their kidney transplants, said Newman. I tried to help some of them out. Some you just cant. They just fig- ured my lifes over. When it came time to getting the kidney trans- plant, they just werent in good shape and they died. Newman said the walk has been on his mind for years, but it wasnt until after he participated in Mississaugas event last fall that he started getting serious about run- ning one in Oakville. His plans took a backseat in November when he was diagnosed with cancer, and his operation didnt happen until this spring during the founda- tions March Drive, which he has been involved with for the last 15 years. When I had the surgery, I wasnt feeling all that great about it, but I said to myself, I got to go out and do this. As it said in that movie, The Bucket List, I started looking at that and thought I need to do this, said Newman. I con- tacted the girl at the Kidney Foundation, whom I hadnt talked to since last September and told her I wanted to do this. Newman was on dialysis for nearly 10 years before he had his transplant. Those 10 years of waiting took not only toke a toll on Newman, it impacted his wife, Doris, and their children, as well. You go through your highs and your lows when youre on it and I went through them. I went through the times where I was depressed and said screw this, I cant do this anymore, said Newman. I was sick several times too (and) I was at that rocky point where I could lose the game. I was on really hard antibiotics because I had infections. There were a few close calls for Newman while he waited for a transplant, and he actually checked out one time in the basement, he said. Doris did actually lose me once. She had to work hard and she got me back on her own without hav- ing to bring anybody in, said Newman. The toughest lesson she learned out of it was I sat her down and said, look you are my wife and I am your husband, if that ever happens again, you got to look past the fact who I am and you got a job to do. His dialysis treatment also forced Newman to sell of his busi- ness because he was unable to work. He ran Newman Disposal Service Inc., a waste management operation for 17 years. Newman Disposal was my baby, I started it and I built it. It took a while, but I finally decided I had no choice; I had to sell the company, he said. It still breaks my heart that I sold the company. I was one of those people who got up in the morning and enjoyed what I did and I looked forward to going to work. When Newman vacationed at Camp Dorset and Sauble Beach during dialysis, he did so inside of his fifth wheelhouse trailer for seven consecutive years, plus a trip to P.E.I. for 2 weeks and did dialysis in the trailer on that trip, he said. While at Camp Dorset, he would hike on nearby trails to stay in shape and still goes every year, he added. The regular exercise and lifting weights during dialysis helped him come through his surgery with fly- ing colours, Newman added. He has lost 11 pounds since November. Every morning after dialysis, I spent an hour doing sit ups and lifting weights, doing everything, walking to the store all the time, to keep myself in shape, said Newman. But once the surgery was over, doctors told him he couldnt exer- cise like he used to because of the new kidney, and he would have to let it heal for a year or two after- wards, he said. After a year or so, when this cancer thing came up, (I) got to go at it again. Since December, Ive been doing 50 sit-ups every morn- ing (and) Im back doing the weights, said Newman. When I was at (Camp) Dorset just now (July 27), every morning my wife and I got up and went down to the lake and we kayaked across the lake and back. Since his kidney transplant, life has improved quite a bit for Newman, and now only takes anti- rejection pills twice a day, which is a lot less than what he was taking five and a half years ago, he said. When he was sick, he was taking as many as 26-28 different pills a day while on dialysis to cover every- thing. Im going to be 55 and Im pushing to be in the best shape I can be, Im not in great shape, but Im doing the best I can. The walk will start at 9 a.m. from Laytec Design & Consulting Inc. at 1444 Cornwall Rd. Registration is at 8 a.m. To register or for more information, visit http://www.kidney.ca/ontariowalk or email Newman at: newman2@ sympatico.ca. WALK THE WALK: Ron Newman is putting on the Give the Gift of Life Walk for the Kidney Foundation of Canada in Oakville, Saturday, Sept. 10. ERIC RIEHL / OAKVILLE BEAVER Walking to give gift of life to kidney patients You go through your highs and your lows when you're on (dialysis) and I went through them. I went through the times where I was depressed and said 'screw this, I can't do this anymore.' Ron Newman, organizer Give the Gift of Life Walk