The Doreen & Robert Dick Story

Since February 2002 the Whiteshell Cross Country Ski club has hosted the annual Doreen Dick Fortitude Ski Tour. In 2013, the ski club honoured the memory of both Doreen and Robert Dick, who were a vital part of our ski club and community by hosting the first Doreen and Robert Dick Memorial Ski Tour in support of the ALS Society of Manitoba. The event which brought out 55 skiers who raised 8, 213.00 for Manitobans living with ALS was considered a success and The Whiteshell Ski Club has decided to run a modified version of the memorial tour and fundraiser as an annual event.

Doreen and Robert Dick both grew up in Dorval, Montreal. In 1969, the Dicks together with their children; 5 year old Douglas and 6 month old Nancy moved to Seven Sisters Manitoba where Robert worked for Manitoba Hydro.

Doreen soon became an active member of the Whiteshell Cross Country Ski Club. She taught Jackrabbits, and as a competitor, represented Whiteshell and Eastman in such communities as Snow Lake, Thompson and Riding Mountain. Robert, though not the competitive skier that his wife was, also began skiing and helping with the development and maintenance of the Whiteshell Ski Trails.

In 1994, a couple of years before Robert’s retirement, Robert and Doreen moved to Pinawa. In addition to skiing they enjoyed golfing and gardening. Robert raced sail boats and Doreen volunteered at the Pinawa Hospital.

In July of 1999, Doreen began having problems with slurred speech. Doctors were concerned that she might have had a stroke, but when that proved negative, other tests were done. In November of that same year she had a preliminary diagnosis of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. ALS is a rapidly progressive fatal neuromuscular disease in which nerve cells die and leave voluntary muscles paralyzed.

Despite her deteriorating health, in February of 2000 Doreen joined other Whiteshell Ski Club members on a tour, which she suspected would be her last, of the English River, Jones Graham, and Orange Trails, stopping at both cabins for rest and refreshments. The total distance was approximately 16 kilometres.

Doreen’s suspicions were correct, this was to be her last major ski tour. Her health deteriorated rapidly over the next few months. She began to have trouble swallowing and in April of 2000, at 59 years of age, she had a final definitive diagnosis of Bulbar ALS. Bulbar ALS is a specific type of ALS where onset symptoms are in the speech, esophagus, and respiratory systems.

In August of 2000, Doreen could no longer swallow and needed a feeding tube. As she had lost the ability to speak she used a computer with a speech recognition program to communicate. The feeding tube and the fact that she could no longer talk did not stop her from playing golf that summer, or from interacting and playing games with grandchildren, Madison, Aidan, and Riley via computer. However, her health continued to deteriorate rapidly. With the help of community volunteers and their children, Robert cared for her at home for as long as he could. But in July of 2001, when she required a ventilator to breathe, it became impossible for him to care for her at home, and she went to live at the Riverview Health Centre in Winnipeg. Robert maintained his home in Pinawa, but spent four days a week by Doreen’s side at Riverview, taking her for walks in the neighbourhood, going on tours arranged through the centre, visiting with their children and grandchildren and helping with her general care.

In the spring of 2007 Doreen could no longer use her computer and her only way of communicating was with her eyes. When even that became difficult for her, she, through her own choice, was taken off the ventilator and passed away in September of 2007.

Just prior to Doreen’s death, Robert and Doreen’s daughter Nancy Chapel, her husband Ben, and their three children moved to Pinawa. With his son Douglas and daughter-in-law Bev being nearby in Winnipeg, Robert was able to take comfort in spending time with his children and grandchildren as he adapted to a life in which he was no longer a husband or a caregiver. But within a couple of years, in 2009, Robert began noticing changes in his body. He had trouble doing simple tasks like tying his shoelaces, and experienced general weakness in all his extremities. He began to suspect that he too might have ALS. As ALS is a very rare disease (with only 1 or 2 people out of 100,000 having it) family and friends thought this to be a statistical impossibility. In the spring of 2010 he was admitted to the Pinawa Hospital with pneumonia and needed a bipap mask (which is a less invasive form of ventilation) to breathe.