Here an article written by a PSAC member and published in the June 3 edition of the Terrace Standard. Tony Vincenzi is a former light house keeper (UCTE) and has been battling WCB and Sun Life since 2004. We are happy to say Tony, assisted by James Little (H&S/WCB Rep in the Victoria RO), has just been successful in winning a Section 23(3) loss of earning award from WCB.

JANUARY 4, 2004  at 14:20 hours is the recorded time that I joined a very elite circle of people. It’s the exact time I became a member of British Columbia’s permanently disabled work force.

I lost the independent life of being a member of the Canadian Coast Guard. I was relegated to a life of ongoing pain, of days of despair, of sleepless nights, and of the torment of the unknown.

It was a life admittedly I wished I could have ended on occasion.

These five years have resulted in the evolution of a completely new person. I am not able to judge if this person is of greater or lesser value than the man that was, but I do know that I have been able to become a man with which I can now live.

Physically I have aged at least 20 years. The outdoor existence that was my true nature has been forfeited. I have yet to develop a substitute, but I no longer rage at its passing. I valued my treasurers not by losing them but by enjoying them when I was able.

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