Kane Fraser epitomizes the phrase, Life
is What You Make It.
After a accident in 1998 left him paralyzed
from the waist down when he was 24,
Kane hasn’t wasted a minute in uncertainty.
He owns and runs a thriving business, is
an extreme sportster, enjoys all aspects of
outdoor adventure and is the father of four.
Last year Kane was invited to become a
Rick Hansen volunteer ambassador and
is slated to not only speak at a few schools
in Quesnel this week but also to be one of
the feature attractions at Quesnel Winter
Carnival, Feb. 3 – 5.
The path to Kane success has been paved
with determination, commitment and a
firm believe life is to be lived to the fullest.
After his devastating accident, Kane said
he accepted the life-changing consequences
pretty well right away and within three
months had finished vocational rehabilitation
testing and got the results back on
where his talents lay.
“The first time I sat in my wheelchair, I
cried,” he admitted.
“I knew this would be my life from that
day forward.”
Discovering he had an aptitude for accounting,
Kane decided in a split second
that’s what he would pursue and asked the
councillor how he would go about accomplishing
that.
He was off to university where he faced
several hurdles including his own shaky
self-image and a complete lack of computer
skills.
“I had to ask how to turn the computer
on more than once,” he said with a laugh.
When he found the going tough, Kane
reminded himself of his daughter and the
lessons he wanted to teach her including
never giving up and that thought sustained
him.
Kane graduated from university with
honours and set out to find the best international
accounting firm to article with.
He is now partner and practicing chartered
professional accountant with FBB
Chartered Professional Acocuntants LLP.
Many people know Kane for a completely
different reason. He enjoys the thrill of
extreme sports, outdoor adventuring and
going very fast on a variety of motorized
vehicles.
After he became disabled, Kane’s first
experience on a recreational vehicle was
thanks to a friend who’s 4X4 has an electronic
shifter enabling Kane to ride by
himself.
“I’d never rode a 4X4 before and I really
enjoyed the freedom,” he said.
Not too long after that, Kane purchased
a six-wheel ARCO amphibious vehicle.
It was the start of a life-long pursuit of
what he describes as “fun.”
He broke his leg in two places in a quading
accident in 2009 and less than a month
later was elk-hunting in the Fort St. John
area. He adapted a boot by cutting out
the back and sliding his foot (in the cast)
into it then fsecuring it with duct tape.
That was the trip where he learned to ride
a snowmobile.
“ The first half a mile on the sled I fell
off five times, I had never ridden a sled as
a paraplegic before,” he said with a laugh.
“My friend has to keep stopping and
pulling me out and righting the sled. We
never bagged an elk, but we sure had fun.”
After his second broken leg on another
extreme adventure, Kane commented to
his wife he might choose less-dangerous
hobbies. He rented a bunch of movies to
wile away the hours of convalescence. One
of those movies was Dust to Glory, the
story of the Baha 1000 race – the longest
continuous off-road race in the world.
“I watched the movie at least 50 times and
told my wife I would be racing the Baha
1000 the next year and she said only if I
wanted to be divorced,” he said.
“I said it would grow on her.”
Kane set about finding his crew. His first
call was to one of his best friends Heino
Sebert, who owns Spectra Power Sports
Polaris dealership in Williams Lake.
“He instantly said he was in, he’s a lot
like me,” Kane said.
They set about reworking an 800 RAZOR
beginning with stripping it down and sandblasting
the metal, then a Chromoly cage,
which took three months to build, was
installed.There would be two people in the
vehicle and Kane and Heino and another
friend would take turns as the driver. Kane
had never raced before in his life. Fortunately
Heino was an experienced racer.
Before the race even started the crew
broke the control arm in a mishap while
testing out the finally 50 miles of the race0
The RAZOR was so sturdy,
other than the broken
control arm, it survived
the many end-over-ends
the vehicle did for a total
of 300 feet before coming
to a stop.
“I had a concussion but
I wasn’t sharing that with
my crew, they were already
coddling me too much,” he
admitted.
Only about 50 per cent of
those who begin the Baha
1000 finish the 1280 km,
cruelling race through Mexico.
Kane’s 15-person crew
figured their chances were
about 5 per cent. Kane said
assured them he would finish
no matter what it took.
“Once we settled down to
racing, they were a really
supportive team throughout
the race,” Kane said.
Through various challenges
including a 100
mile detour after a wrong
turn, the crew pressed on.
Thousands were following
them online and when they
reached the finish line, it
didn’t matter they were five
hours beyond the acceptable
time and were considered
to have an incomplete,
it also didn’t matter it was
2 a.m. and his crew and
a whole lot of supporters
were at the make-shift finish
line to welcome them.
“I had three goals. The
first was the raise $25,000
for the Rick Hansen Foundation,
the second to raise
awareness of disabled accomplishments
and the
third was to inspire just
one person to reach their
goal, and I think through
the race I reached all three,”
Kane said.
Kane competed in the
Baha 1000 again, this time
solo, in a 4-wheeler and
completed 1/3 of the 2,040
km race covering 640 km
before his hands could no
longer grip the handlebars.
In 2015 he competed in
a race from Los Vegas to
Reno in the longest offroad
US race covering 870
km. Kane rode 480 km on
his Scrambler 4000 4-wheeler.
The race had two components,
the first of course
is the racing vehicle, but the
second, just as gruelling
was driving the truck and
trailer to the next pit stop
before the racing vehicle arrived.
With a crew of just
two, they made the 32-hour
drive to Vegas to make the
entry deadline and tried to
find a few hours sleep. Although
grueling in its own
way, Kane said this race,
more than any others, was
about the camaraderie of
the people who race. Several
times he stopped and
helped his fellow racers, one
act of assistances cost him
three hours of racing time
but he said not only was it
morally the right thing to
do but the rules state you
must stop and help racers
in need.
“It wasn’t until we arrived
at the awards ceremony in
Reno that we found out
we’d won our class and that
was so cool,” he said.
And just when you
thought Kane was too
busy to add anything else
he’s now put his hand to
racing street stock cars.
His company also sponsors
stock car racing. He ‘s the
president of the Williams
Lake Sportsman Association,
enjoys competitive
shooting and is a very successful
businessman.
His motto is – Live the
Dream. He had hoodies
made for all his staff and
customers with Live the
Dream on the front, I Will
Truly Live along one arm
and Stay Awesome on the
other.
As a Rick Hansen Foundation
Ambassador, Kane
enjoys a close, personal relationship
with the founder
Rick Hansen. When Kane
was in G.R. Strong after
the accident, Rick’s brother,
Kane’s co-worker, asked
his brother to drop by and
visit Kane.
“I can’t really explain how
inspiring that was for me at
that time in my life. I didn’t
want the conversation to
end, I kept him there for as
long as I could. It was such
a relief to find a role model
in similar circumstances to
myself and I wanted to be a
successful disabled person
like Rick,” Kane said.
“We’ve remained close
through family and common
ground.”
Now, as a RHF Ambassador,
Kane plans to bring his
mountain snowmobile and
possibly his racing quad to
Quesnel Winter Carnival.
He loves to share his experiences
so just ask him what
he considers fun and you
won’t believe the stories.
“I do live the dream, I live
life to its fullest as I see it.”
For complete list of
Winter Carnival activities,
visit their Facebook page
or look for posters around
town. To sign up for the
Three-on-Three hockey
tournament call Susan
MacNeill at 250-991-9664.