Shows
Life and LimbAppetite for Accessible Adventure - Tanya RabeDespite facing her share of travel challenges as an above-knee amputee and someone living with rheumatoid arthritis, those experiences have fueled Tanya Rabe’s passion for making travel accessible to everyone. That passion includes finding detours around roadblocks to make for accessible adventures. Tanya does that for clients with and without disabilities through Right Foot Adventures, her own travel agency. For Tanya, it’s all about research, planning ahead, problem-solving and confidence. She shares how she helps take away the fear of traveling with a disability that so many of us can experience, and offers tips for choosing the righ...
2025-11-2234 min
Life and LimbLawyer Dionne Chambers Practices Peer SupportDionne Chambers is a personal injury lawyer, experienced in claims for clients with a wide range of serious injuries including amputation, brain injury and psychological trauma. Her work with amputee clients has increased her awareness of the gaps in meeting their needs, particularly in the area of peer support. As such, she has partnered with a Niagara-area amputee to establish a peer support group in that region. Dionne advocates for her clients regularly throughout their recovery and rehabilitation and is now bringing insights from client experiences and needs to the Amputee Coalition of Canada as its newest board member.
2025-10-3137 min
You Can’t Spell Inclusion Without a DEp. 38: The Self-Employment Journey for People Who Have a DisabilityOctober is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Or NDEAM, as it's known for short.
This month across Canada, NDEAM campaigns are focusing on raising awareness about disability-inclusive hiring…disability inclusion throughout the employment cycle…breaking down barriers to employment for people who have a disability…and creating a disability-inclusive workplace and culture.
So every season, we like to tie our October episode to NDEAM.
This episode, we’re delving into an aspect of disability and employment that seems to be not talked about a whole lot in the conversation about disability and employment.
We...
2025-10-1451 minYou Can’t Spell Inclusion Without a DEp. 38: The Self-Employment Journey for People Who Have a DisabilityOctober is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Or NDEAM, as it's known for short.
This month across Canada, NDEAM campaigns are focusing on raising awareness about disability-inclusive hiring…disability inclusion throughout the employment cycle…breaking down barriers to employment for people who have a disability…and creating a disability-inclusive workplace and culture.
So every season, we like to tie our October episode to NDEAM.
This episode, we’re delving into an aspect of disability and employment that seems to be not talked about a whole lot in the conversation about disability and employment.
We...
2025-10-1451 min
Life and LimbErez Avramov - Changing the Resiliency ConversationErez Avramov, nicknamed “The Man Who Refuses to Die”, is an internationally-recognized resiliency expert who’s been trained and shaped by life’s most challenging adversities. Three near-death experiences, and an elective amputation, have given him a unique perspective about life. Deeply driven to explore human potential, Erez has uncovered the inner workings of resiliency and is the founder of Life Rebuilder Academy. He shares proven methodologies that he developed to harness the power of adversity so others can transform their lives as well. Erez changes the conversation from “why did this happen?” to “how can I use this to transform m
2025-08-2748 min
Life and LimbAmputee Greg Westlake Champions Life-Long LearningGreg Westlake was the long-time captain of the Canadian Para Ice Hockey Team, a five-time Paralympian and three-time medalist. He’s worked as a CBC broadcaster and was the host of AMI’s Level Playing Field program, showcasing para-athlete stories. Westlake had both legs amputated below the knee when he was just 18 months old. Now a dad of two, a video production company owner, and a spokesperson for numerous organizations, he shares with listeners what he’s still learning about disability, himself and other amputees.
2025-08-0536 min
Life and LimbFinding Your Summit with Unstoppable Tracy SchmittUnstoppable Tracy is about more than inspiration. She provides life-changing action-able results. She has a #1 Best Selling Book and is a Female Transformational Global Leader winner. She’s earned awards as an athlete, businesswoman and for her work in underdeveloped countries. She has spoken to audiences in over 40 countries and is Toronto’s most virally viewed speaker with over 30 million views in three months in 2019. Born a four-way amputee, she’s climbed the Himalayan mountains, captained a towering 110-foot tall-ship, and conquered challenges that many would never dare attempt. Unstoppable Tracy has never let limits define her and promotes to oth...
2025-05-2849 min
Life and LimbWar Amps’ Rob Larman Applauds 50 Years of Child Amputee ProgramRob Larman lost his right leg above-the-knee when he was 14 after a friend dared him to jump on a slow-moving freight train. He ended up under the wheels. But not long after, he became one of the early graduates of The War Amps Child Amputee Program. Forty-plus years after his injury he’s still part of the “CHAMP” program, with 25 of those years as the Director of the Association’s PLAYSAFE/DRIVESAFE program. An educator and role model, Larman talks about parenting with a disability, and support for families of child amputees.
2025-04-1337 min
Life and LimbRescue by Fire: Mike Laughlin's Triumph over TraumaMotivational speaker Michael Laughlin has brought his extraordinary story of trauma, loss, love, resilience, hope and triumph to readers with his new book “Untapped 60” to encourage others to face vulnerabilities and find strength in the face of adversity. Mike is a career firefighter with Kingston Fire & Rescue. He has faced unimaginable personal and professional challenges in his life, and defied tremendous odds to twice return to his career to become Canada's only full-time above-knee firefighter.
2025-03-2540 min
Life and LimbPower of Peer Support with Kirsten WoodendA nurse of 40+ years and an above-knee amputee of about seven, Kirsten Woodend has experienced healthcare from both sides - practitioner and patient - and shares the irony of how little she knew about amputation, let alone what a "prosthetist" is? She's an associate professor of nursing at Trent University and a two-time Dean of Trent’s School of Nursing. Today, Kirsten is the president of the Amputee Coalition of Canada (ACC). Her current research in osseointegration and peer visiting serves ACA's primary pillar of Peer Support very well.
2025-02-2038 minLife and LimbLarissa Camp: Limb Loss from Domestic ViolenceA talented hairstylist and a survivor of domestic violence, Larissa Camp found herself fleeing for her life when an ex-boyfriend shot her twice at close range with a shotgun. She suffered life-altering injuries, including the loss of four fingers on her right hand. But with strength and determination she’s found her purpose. She says, “I was given a story to share with the world in hopes of inspiring others to move forward despite challenges they may face.”
2025-01-2739 min
Life and LimbGlobal Effort for African Amputees - Tom WilliamsTom Williams started STAND (formerly Legs for Africa) after a trip to The Gambia more than a decade ago. It was there where he met a gentleman in need of a prosthetic limg, a leg lost to diabetes. Tom sourced one for him, and 10 years later his organization has rescued and recycled over 18,000 prosthetic legs for others in need across sub-Saharan Africa. Listen to his remarkable story of humanitarian impact.
2025-01-0741 min
Life and LimbNormalizing Limb Loss with Comedy - Courtney GilmourCourtney Gilmour is an award-winning stand-up comedian, television writer, and finalist on Canada’s Got Talent. She is one of Canada's most unique voices and sought-after comedy talents, named by NOW Magazine as “one of the top 10 stage artists to watch.” Courtney's victory at the 2017 Just For Laughs Homegrown competition was the first by a female comic in the 19-year-history of the event. Her first album - “Let Me Hold Your Baby” – was JUNO-nominated, and she’s just released her new “Wonder Woman" album – which is a really funny take on life as a triple limb amputee when it comes to public per...
2024-12-1743 min
Life and LimbConquering His Own World – Andrew Haley“You don’t have to conquer the world; you just have to conquer your world,” says Andrew Haley. His is a story of a Halifax kid with a 35 percent chance of survival becoming one of Canada’s most accomplished high-performance athletes. Andrew shares what motivated him from his cancer diagnosis through the loss of a leg above the knee, and onward toward four Paralympic Games and five trips to the Paralympic podium as a medal-winning para swimmer.
2024-11-2437 min
Life and LimbLife on a Road Less Travelled - Christa CoutureA musician, writer, broadcaster, Christa Couture is proudly Indigenous and queer and a lower extremity amputee since childhood. She loves to share stories that intersect with disability, and is now the host of Season 5 of the AMI travel docu-series “Postcards from...” featuring a different Canadian city each episode. Her career's work has explored experiences of loss, which include several unimaginable ones in her own life.
2024-10-3139 min
Life and LimbAdventure After Amputation - Tyler TurnerA skydiver, surfer, rock-climber, snowboarder – Canada’s first Paralympic gold medalist in the sport in fact – a sailor and a contestant on The Amazing Race Canada reality show, the sky is not the limit for British Columbia’s Tyler Turner. The bilateral below-knee amputee, from a skydiving injury, lives by the motto: “It’s not about where you started or your end result. It’s the steps you take in between.”
2024-10-1834 min
Life and LimbDefying Aging with Amputation with ExerciseMegan Williamson is the head fitness coach at Ocean Rehab and Fitness in Vancouver. She’s also the head instructor for the North American Council of Inclusive Fitness and co-author of a resource called Breaking Barriers: Fundamentals of Training Clients with Physical Disabilities. She’s all about bridging the gap between rehab and fitness, making exercise inclusive for everyone no matter what. Megan shares strategies for achieving better health for anyone living with limb loss or limb difference.
2024-09-2339 min
Life and LimbAttitude is Science - Alvin LawAlvin Law says “attitude” is so much more than an overused word, and shares his remarkable story on Life and Limb, thrive magazine’s podcast. It’s a story of life without arms that he’s told to over two million people on five continents at over 7,500 events. Abandoned by his birth family at just five days old, Alvin has spent his life doing things that he wasn’t supposed to do. That sounds rebellious, and it is in his own way. His rebellion involved things like playing trombone and driving a car – with his feet. "I refused to let other peopl...
2024-08-1651 min
Life and LimbProsthetist-Patient Relationships with Marty RobinsonProsthetics is an intriguing profession. It’s science. It’s art. And it’s social science in terms of relationships that are cultivated with patients or clients who, by way of life’s circumstance, may be hard to please at times. With over 35 years of experience with patient-prosthetist relationships, certified prosthetist Marty Robison provides some perspective on these "partnerships."
2024-07-0945 min
515 : The Ultra PodcastS6E3 -- Steve King : Ask Me Anything!Send us a textSteve King is a foundational guest on this podcast. Even though he appeared in the first three episodes (S1E1) (S1E2) (S1E3), I am not sure that we know all about this man. So, I hosted an online Zoom meeting for anyone who wanted to show up and partake in the AMA with Steve. This episode is the recording from that meeting. You can just look down at the resources and people mentioned to see what a wide variety of questions there was.Resources ment...
2024-07-051h 25
IWSCC’s Empowering EqualitySupplier Spotlight: Disability Today Network & Jeff TiessenGet to know entrepreneur Jeff Tiessen and his business the Disability Today Publishing Group in this week’s IWSCC Supplier Spotlight!
Visit their website: https://www.disabilitytodaynetwork.com/
Learn more about the IWSCC at www.iwscc.ca
This podcast is produced by PodSupply: https://podsupply.co/
With ASL sponsored by RBC Royal Bank and Bell Canada.
ASL for Empowering Equality is supplied by Maple Communications Canada: https://www.maplecomm.ca/
2024-06-0422 min
Life and LimbCycling for Ukrainian Amputees - Jakob KepkaJakob Kepka, a military veteran and amputee, is prepared for all of the risks associated with his upcoming "Hoperaising Expedition", a 900-kilometre bike ride from Krakow, Poland, to Kyiv, Ukraine, fearing Ukrainian drivers more than the Russians, he says. Jakob shares his personal motivation to pedal through the war-torn terrain as a beacon of hope for those with amputations, and similar physical and psychological challenges that he faced after the loss of his leg, to raise money to support Ukrainian amputees.
2024-05-2945 min
Life and LimbBe the Hero of Your Own Story - Kevin RempelHost Jeff Tiessen chats with Canadian Paralympian Kevin Rempel. Kevin fought for years to rebuild his physical and mental health. Not only did he learn to walk again after a motocross accident that resulted in an incomplete spinal cord injury, but he has walked across countless stages sharing his story and encouraging others. A member of Canada’s Paralympic Sledge Hockey Team, Kevin speaks candidly about his journey back from traumatic injury, and his strategies to combat his struggles. Plenty of practical “get-started” advice to adopt to become a hero in our own stories.
2024-03-0437 minLife and LimbThe Joy in Our Authentic Selves with Alexis HillyardIn this first episode of Life and Limb, host Jeff Tiessen chats with Edmonton's Alexis Hillyard.
A teacher by profession, Alexis is a motivator, influencer and a YouTube content creator. She’s incredibly passionate about being her authentic disabled, queer self. She’s a rock climber, musician, mom of two, chef and much more, and she can be unapologetically silly.
Born without her left hand, Alexis knows all about limb difference, and has navigated that on her own terms since she was a child. Many know her from Stump Kitchen, her YouTube show (100 million+ views) that...
2024-02-2230 min
The AmpuTO ShowParalympian, Advocate, Publisher - Jeff TiessenTRIGGER ALERT: Trauma details in audio. Listener's discretion advised.
On this episode of The AmpuTO Show, we hear from 3 time Paralympian medalist and Executive Director of ParaSport Ontario, Jeff Tiessen. Jeff Tiessen is a double upper limb amputee from childhood, a father and husband, who is also the publisher of Thrive Magazine - a magazine with focus on Canadians in the limb loss and limb different community.
2021-02-1653 min
Butter Torts: A Truly Canadian Legal PodcastEpisode 014: ParaSports and Variety Village: Contributing to Improve the Lives of People with Disabilities with Jeff Tiessen and Karen Stintz.Brenda Agnew and Jordan Assaraf, your hosts, welcome Jeff Tiessen from ParaSports Ontario and Karen Stintz from Variety Village to today's episode. Jeff is the publisher of Disability Today Publishing Group, a disability community pioneer and leader for over 25 years, is known for its quality publications, and compelling editorial. The publisher of Alignment for Orthotics Prosthetics Canada, and a host of in-house magazine and book titles, the media firm is led by Jeff Tiessen, an amputee of over 40 years. Jeff is also the executive director of ParaSports Ontario.Jeff is a three-time Paralympian and world record holder...
2020-12-251h 05
Butter Torts: A Truly Canadian Legal PodcastMore Than Five Decades of Experience in Personal Injury with Bernard GlucksteinBrenda Agnew welcomes Bernard Gluckstein to today's episode, where he shares his exceptional professional journey which began in 1962 and extends until today. He's spent days, months, and years loving his job and enjoying every part of it. Bernard has always been a staunch advocate for the rights of injured persons. Well-known for his philanthropy, he provides executive and financial support to many non-profit organizations across Ontario. He frequently organizes events for persons with brain and spinal cord injuries. Bernard has 57 years of experience in Personal Injury litigation and is a Lifetime Member of the Law...
2020-10-0246 min
Stable ScoopStable Scoop Episode 232 – Blazing a TrailAll about horse crazy kids this week as we speak with Jeff Tiessen, Publisher of Blaze magazine. Plus, Jody of "Ask Murray" fame joins us to talk about falling off. Listen in...Support the show
2013-01-2447 min