Special Olympics power-lifter and gold and silver medalist Ryan Kealey continues to inspire others, in both his hometown of Clearwater and in Berlin, Germany during the Special Olympics this past summer, where Kealey represented Canada.
https://www.barrierestarjournal.com/community/special-olympian-ryan-kealey-of-clearwater-wins-gold-in-berlin-5626669
On Nov. 3 Kealey’s dedicated supporter, friend, and filmmaker Ken Matheson hosted a meet and greet evening with Kealey and his mother Grace, to share the Special Olympics experience while introducing a trailer for the upcoming documentary, Beyond the Weights, which Matheson produced. The film will not only be about Kealey’s incredible athletic achievements, but will also focus on his life journey accomplishments.
In June of this year the 27-year-old travelled to Berlin to compete in the Special Olympics, bringing home a gold medal and three silver medals in power-lifting. Matheson followed the athlete on his trip to film this stage of his journey, a far cry from small town rural life in Clearwater.
During the meet and greet at Evergreen Acres Seniors’ Hall, guests watched a short trailer for the documentary (which is still in the production stage) and had the opportunity to hear about the exciting trip to Germany, a first for Kealey and his mother Grace.
Matheson’s introduction to Ryan was one of admiration and fondness. “This is a special recognition event for our true-life superhero from the Valley, Ryan Kealey,” he said. “He motivates and inspires others wherever he goes in his life; something we can all benefit from.
“Seeing the thousands of Special Olympians embrace their competitors when they achieved a win was a life-changing moment in time for me. It prompted me to ask myself, why can’t we all treat each other with such unconditional love and support in this world? It would be such a better place if we learned from authentic spirits like Ryan.”
Grace Kealey, a mother of two boys, is a former nurse of 35 years, working in early psychosis intervention. In her last position before moving to Clearwater, she was a Car 40 nurse who was paired with a Mountie for mental health calls in Kamloops. The family’s life together hasn’t always been easy, she said.
”There is so much that he and I have gone through. It’s been an amazing journey, to see this end result after you’ve really spent a lot of emotions. As any mother, you want the best for your child. You want them to shine, to be received, when at times he’s gone through the opposite of that. Yet he has still managed to be the beautiful being that he is.”
The proud mom continued, “As an empath, it’s been my goal to keep that heart as open and loving as possible. He remains that beautiful, honest and open-hearted person that we are all intended to be really.”
Athletes from 79 countries attended the Special Olympics in Berlin this year. As a first trip away from his home country and his mom, it could have been an overwhelming experience for Kealey, but that wasn’t the case, according to both Grace and Matheson.
Grace prepared her son well in advance leading up to many life events, at times having to do her own coaching when things outside a safe home environment became challenging.
“I feel like I’ve done my job as a mom. It was a huge learning curve for him and me. I look at this experience as a ‘love conquers all’ time for us and a leap of faith. I’ve parented him through the ‘what ifs’ and the different things that he might face. Any other stuff coming at him turned out to be, well, amazing.”
She shared her feelings about him leaving to go off on his own for the first time with the Canadian team ahead of her, family, and Matheson’s film crew. Looking back, she sees it as a very “empowering time” for both him and her.
“As a parent of someone with special needs your biggest fear is how they will be received in the world around them, but it was amazing. He shines brightly, he’s a beautiful human. Seeing your son who has been told he won’t do a lot of things, and having him become this inspiring person, makes it all worth it.”
Grace shares the raising of two boys, Ryan and Jake. The latter now lives in Kamloops, and she is as proud of his accomplishments as she is of Ryan’s.
“All of the sacrifice got Ryan to where he is, Jacob to where he is, and that’s all that really matters. It was worth all it took to protect that beautiful spirit and now he will go on and inspire many people. I’m grateful, humbled and honoured to let Ryan just be Ryan while supporting him in everything he absolutely is.”
The evening wrapped up with a cheque presentation to Kealey by Matheson, who is also a councillor for the District of Clearwater, in the amount of $500. It was made on behalf of the community, which had held a fundraiser to assist in enabling the film crew and production team to follow Kealey’s experience in Germany for the documentary. Kealey and his family will be donating the money to the Special Olympics.
