Daniel Normandin underwent seven operations in his battle with cancer.Daniel Normandin underwent seven operations in his battle with cancer. (Sean Burges/Mundo Sport Images)

Perseverance is a word that often surfaces when discussing athletes who overcome the odds against them, but among the more than 1,000 athletes competing at the 2009 Canadian Track and Field Championships in Toronto this week, few have a more compelling story than Daniel Normandin.

A day after winning a bronze medal in the wheelchair 100-metre final in a time of 15.77 seconds, the 38-year-old from Verdun, Que., raced to a fourth-place finish in the 200 m event Friday. His time in the longer sprint was 29.25 seconds.

Neither would be noteworthy under normal circumstances, but the very fact he was competing in Toronto at all was itself a monumental feat.

Just seven weeks ago, he endured the latest in a series of seven operations to remove cancer from his body.

I first met Daniel Normandin at the 2005 IAAF World Athletics Championships in Helsinki, which I was covering for The Canadian Press. The fact he performed under duress and still recorded a personal best was admirable.

Months later, my brother, Dr. Malcolm Gains, a Montreal pathologist and professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Montreal, told me an international wheelchair athlete lived on the main floor of his condominium building.

It was Daniel.

My brother became somewhat of an advisor to Daniel when his cancer resurfaced. He recalls coming home one day to find Daniel waiting on his balcony to ask medical questions.

The news of Daniel's bronze medal at the 2009 Canadian championships is an inspiration to both my brother and me.

"For me to be here is an achievement, but to win the bronze medal yesterday, well, that was a very, very big success for me," he said. "I enjoy all the races. I am just happy to be here with my teammates."

Normandin has been a member of Canada's international Paralympic track and field team since 2004, when he competed in the Athens Paralympic Games in the men's 4 x 100 m relay. The Canadian team finished fourth.

A year later, he responded to a late call-up from Athletics Canada and flew to Helsinki for the 2005 IAAF World Championships. A lane had opened up in the exhibition wheelchair 100 m race.

'Every day is a highlight'

Despite having flown across the Atlantic only two days before the race, Normandin finished fourth in a world-class field and recorded a personal best time of 14.84 seconds on the rain-drenched track.

"I think my fourth-place position in Helsinki was the career highlight for me," he says. "But honestly, every day is a highlight."

Perusing his medical history, one might have a hard time believing the cards he has been dealt. At the age of eight, Normandin was diagnosed with bone cancer and surgeons removed his left leg.

"I was really young, but even at eight years old, you know what happened," he recalls.

Four years later, he learned the cancer had metastasized into his lungs, and he underwent another operation to remove a tumour.

"They removed a very small piece of my lung when I was 12 years old. I was OK for a very long time," he said. "All my life was normal, and then at 35 years old, they found thyroid cancer. They had to do five surgeries to remove the cancer. The last surgery was seven weeks ago. I had a big cyst in my neck, and they removed it."

Normandin credits the late Paralympic champion André Viger for introducing him to wheelchair basketball at the age of 15 as a means to deal with his physical disability. Like Viger, he soon learned that racing in a wheelchair was his forte, and he dropped basketball in favour of track and field.

Never thought of quitting sport

"I felt better in training, and I found 'me' this way," he explains. "André Viger worked with me and with André Beaudoin. He was a big star. He introduced me to my coaches, and we worked together. That's how I started."

Today, he is coached by Jean Laroche, Athletics Canada's long-time head Paralympic coach, who also coaches Sylvie Daigle, the Olympic short-track speed skater.

Normandin has also been blessed with an understanding employer. The Montreal Rehabilitation Centre, where he has worked the past 18 years as a certified prosthesist, gives him time off to attend training camps and represent Canada at international events. The centre has also supported him through his times of medical distress.

Despite the many health crises he has faced, Normandin says he has never thought of quitting sport and, in fact, told his latest surgeon he was going to return to training with the intention of competing in this week's Canadian championships, which run June 25-28.

"I never quit," he says smiling. "I just keep my mind focused. I knew I was able to be here. I talked to the doctors and said 'I am coming back to training and to race at the Canadian championships.'

"I don't know, maybe because I love life and I enjoy my sport, and when you like what you are doing, you don't want to quit. I think this is it."

Normandin's exemplary attitude has left more than a few able-bodied athletes shaking their heads in admiration. One can only imagine what he might achieve if given a clean bill of health.