Koch shares positive message

SOURIS — As motivational speaker Chris Koch held the attention of his high school student audience, he slid back and forth on stage while on his longboard, using humour to poke fun at himself as someone who was born with no arms, and no legs.

“The day I was born,” said Koch, “my grandma’s reaction to hearing that I was born missing my arms and legs was to say that my dad never finished anything he started, and that set the tone for how the rest of my life was going to be,” he said as the crowd laughed.

“It wasn’t going to be a pity party. It wasn’t going to be a tragedy. Everything’s going to be all right, and we’re going to have a laugh,” Koch said to students in grades 8 to 12 from Souris, Hartney and Wawanesa schools Monday morning.

Koch was born and raised on a farm in southern Alberta 45 years ago and said he has always had a sense of adventure, and a love of public speaking.

From an early age, Koch was making presentations to local Rotary clubs, schools and for the War Amputations of Canada, specifically representing the Child Amputee (CHAMP) Program — travelling across the country.

In 2012, he decided to combine all his experiences and travels and created “If I Can,” a company, website as well as YouTube and social media channels that promote positivity and help to raise money for local communities he’s visiting.

Koch has travelled to 36 countries, six of the seven continents, has taken part in numerous marathons in Canada and the United States, and has been a featured speaker for Microsoft, Apple and John Deere.

“My motto is ‘If I Can,’” said Koch. “And that means if a guy with no arms and legs can snowboard, surf, work on the farm, drive tractors, combines and travel the world, can just live a happy, independent life, anybody is capable of doing some pretty awesome and exceptional things.

“It has nothing to do with arms or legs or physical ability, it’s that six inches of space, or, if you’re of the younger generation, 30 centimetres of space between the ears.”

The message hit home with Peyton Dougall, a Grade 11 student at Souris School who said going forward, she’ll “try to find the good in everything.”

“I thought it was really inspiring and motivating to hear from someone who looks like he would have lots of challenges to overcome, but really, he just figures out how to do it on his own,” Dougall said.

Grade 9 student Kai Henry-Will said he wanted to meet Koch after his presentation and was all smiles when he posed for a photo.

“Super funny guy,” Henry-Will said, adding “I feel I got to know him a little, and got to know how he grew up with his struggles, and how it wasn’t always an easy life.

“So, I’m just trying to remodel my life because it really strikes a chord in some people, myself included.”

Koch was invited to western Manitoba by Chad Wallin, who leads Westman VOLT hockey. It’s an adaptive sports program designed to make hockey accessible to individuals with disabilities. Players sit in specially designed chairs on an indoor court.

The two have been friends for about seven years. They met when Koch was hitchhiking from Calgary to St. John’s, N.L., and rolled into Wallin’s restaurant, Joe Beeverz in Brandon.

“I was working,” Wallin said, “and I just happened to be coming around the corner when I saw this gentleman roll in on a skateboard, hop up on a bar stool and order a beer. I was intrigued and I said to myself, I need to know this guy’s story.

“As a parent of a child with cerebral palsy, you’re always hyper alert and aware, and you notice people with other difficulties really quickly. So, I heard Chris’s story, and we just hit it off.”

Wallin said “ever since that day” he has been looking for an opportunity to bring Koch back to Brandon to highlight his accomplishments and messages of positivity. There will also be opportunities to fundraise for Westman VOLT hockey.

“The more people who hear Chris’s story, the more people there are who can learn — or look at things through a different lens,” Wallin said. “Maybe your life’s not so rough, or maybe today is not so bad when you start looking around at what other people have to deal with.

“And I think it’s important for kids to realize that you can choose your attitude, and the way that you look at things.”

Counting himself lucky, Koch told the crowd that he wasn’t ever “bullied or picked on” in school, saying that was one of the good things about growing up in a small town.

But he said he knows bullying happens and told the students that life’s challenging enough, and that piling on someone else is a “cheap move.” He advised those who are the target of haters to “develop a thick skin” because for every “one jerk, there are several people who are good to absolutely incredible.”

“There’s no magical potion for confidence, but it’s something that you can develop by going outside of your comfort zone,” Koch said.

“I’m comfortable in my own skin and proud of who I am. If somebody thinks I look weird, strange or funny looking, I really don’t care. That’s their problem, not mine. “The one thing we all have in common, whether you’re 10 fingers and 10 toes or differently abled, the biggest thing that’s holding us back is the person you’re looking at in the mirror.”

On Monday afternoon, Koch spoke to students at École secondaire Neelin High School.

This morning, he’s scheduled to speak at Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School and at Vincent Massey High School in the afternoon.

On Wednesday, Koch will be the featured speaker at a corporate lunch for sponsors of Westman VOLT hockey at the Dome Building. And on Thursday — his 46th birthday — Koch flies to Michigan for a presentation to the Muskegon County Farm Bureau.

For more information about Koch, visit https://www.ifican.ca/.

» [email protected]

» enviromichele.bsky.social