Man who lost legs to MS warming heads and hearts by knitting tuques on custom-made cot
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who → lose → cot
'You're here to help people, and that's my goal,' says 84-year-old Leonard Foidart
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Foidart → help → people
Before Leonard Foidart starts knitting, he lies face down on his custom-made cot, reaches down to adjust the light, grabs two knitting needles and selects the wool he feels will be just right.
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he → start → wool
Foidart, 84, loves to knit but is unable to sit for more than a few hours at a time.
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Foidart → love → time
He lost his legs in the early 1990s due to complications from multiple sclerosis.
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He → lose → sclerosis
"The bones don't like me sitting on them too much," Foidart said from his home in Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Man., about 110 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg.
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Foidart → like → Winnipeg
He said he has knitted and donated more than 1,000 tuques to numerous charities in the last five years, including Winnipeg's Siloam Mission and Central Plains Cancer Services in Portage la Prairie.
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he → say → Prairie
Much of the wool is donated.
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Much → donate → wool
Foidart was diagnosed with bone and prostate cancer a few years ago.
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Foidart → diagnose → cancer
His wife, Tharsile, died last year after suffering a stroke.
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wife → die → stroke
"She taught me how to knit.
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She → teach → me
So, every time I knit a tuque, she is right here beside me.
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she → knit → me
In the 20 years, we never had a single argument.
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we → have → argument
We had a good life," he said as his voice broke with emotion.
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voice → have → emotion
That's why, Foidart said, he refuses to give up knitting.
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he → say → knitting
After his cancer diagnosis, Foidart decided to build a cot.
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Foidart → decide → cot
It sits on four wheels and has a comfortable body cushion, and a leather headband so he can rest his head.
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he → sit → head
Foidart shows off one of many baskets of donated wool.
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Foidart → show → wool
"I was a letter carrier for 19 years, and in my spare time I did carpentry work.
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I → do → work
And because I've been in this chair for 35 years, whenever a problem came along, this guy solved it," Foidart said as he tapped the side of his head.
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he → come → head
He keeps meticulous records of each donation, with photos of labelled bags showing the date and number of tuques.
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He → keep → tuques
"You're here to help people, and that's my goal, to do the best I can to help people wherever they are and whatever shape they can be in," Foidart said.
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Foidart → help → shape
The corporation supports and advocates for vulnerable people in the community.
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corporation → support → community
Kimberly Sharp, left, and Tawnee Kowerchuk from the Portage la Prairie Community Revitalization Corporation hold some of the 200 tuques Foidart delivered last week.
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Foidart → hold → tuques
Co-ordinator Tawnee Kowerchuk said they got an email from Foidart's niece preparing them for delivery but she was shocked when he delivered the tuques himself.
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he → say → tuques
When he showed up and we saw exactly what we were dealing with and how many, we were totally beside ourselves.
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we → show → ourselves
It was just amazing," Kowerchuk said.
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Kowerchuk → say → ?
"And he was adamant they go to people who are in need.
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who → go → need
Foidart is already working on the next batch of tuques.
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Foidart → work → tuques
He said he doesn't set a goal of how many he wants to make in a month or a year but never strays from his schedule.
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he → say → schedule
"I do the best that I can do today, and maybe tomorrow, even better.
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I → do → that
After 1,200 tuques, they better be rare," he said as he laughed.
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he → say → tuques
The Aporia
