Susan Marshall was known for her resilience, humour, and unwavering commitment to the people around her. More than 25 years after her passing, the Susan Marshall Fighting Spirit Award, established in Marshall’s honour by her friend Roger Jones, recognizes SCI BC members who carry those same qualities forward.
This year, that honour belongs to Terry Landry, a longtime volunteer, mentor, and advocate. When told he had won the award, Landry was surprised. “It was never something that I thought that I would receive, but I thought it was really nice that you recognize members that are outstanding like [last year’s recipient] Marney Smithies.”
Back in 1991, Landry was working in Indonesia when a virus caused inflammation and lasting damage to his spinal cord. During his hospitalization, his wife visited with a sign that read, “Shit happens.” While the sign was meant to bring a smile, Landry took the message to heart. He explains, “If you can, just accept what you have, fight it, but also do something.”
After his injury, Landry and his wife moved to her hometown of Victoria. Following a recommendation from his brother to connect with SCI BC (then known as the BC Paraplegic Association), Landry met Scott Heron, SCI BC’s Peer Support Specialist in Victoria. Together, they started the longest-running SCI peer support group in BC. During a transition period for SCI BC, Landry helped keep the coffee group going so that peers would always have a place to connect. What began as casual gatherings in people’s homes has grown into a monthly peer meetup in Victoria.
“It’s the camaraderie, you know, when everybody gets together,” says Landry. “We’ve known each other for so long. New members are always welcome. Some of them come and go. The Christmas party is always a great hit. We always get lots of people.”
Landry has also spent hundreds of hours as a volunteer peer mentor with SCI BC, listening and sharing his experiences with newly injured peers and visiting their homes to identify accessibility barriers and ease the transition home.
“I like to help people, so I always tell them my story. When you’re meeting one-on-one, you hear their story and what they’re going through and then you can offer some suggestions or at least tell them your story… Peer support is a wonderful, wonderful thing that SCI BC has always done.”
The coffee group may be where many people know Landry from, but he contributes behind the scenes too. Over the years, Landry has served on SCI BC’s Board of Directors and Vancouver Island South Advisory Committee, “continually volunteering his time, effort, and energy to move forward the vision and mission of SCI BC,” says Heron.
From 1996 to 2002, Landry served as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Victoria Disability Resource Centre and remains an active volunteer. He adds, “I was in the Navy, so I’m involved with the Legion too. In fact, I sat on their Board of Directors for quite a long time.”
Another longstanding commitment of Landry’s has been the Cowichan Valley Shriner’s Club, where he has served as Secretary for the past 35 years. Landry is particularly proud of the organization’s support for sick and disabled children. Recently, BC Shriner’s helped a child from Victoria travel to Shriner’s Children Hospital in Montreal for scoliosis surgery, at no cost to the family.
Landry embodies a fighting spirit in the same quiet, unassuming way Marshall did. “I said to Scott and Bert [Abbott], ‘I want to thank you. I didn’t expect this. You know me, I just do things.’ If somebody needs something done, I try and do it. If I can’t do it, I pass it on to somebody that can.”
For Landry, making a difference has never been complicated. He explains, “People say, ‘Oh thank you for putting on the coffee.’ It’s easy and I enjoy it. So I’ll do it as long as I can.”
Building community doesn’t always require extraordinary acts. Sometimes it starts with a cup of coffee, a shared story, or a willingness to help. For decades, Landry has shown that making an impact is as simple as showing up again and again.
Nominations for the 2027 Susan Marshall Fighting Spirit Award will open January 1, 2027. The award includes a $1,000 cheque and will be presented at SCI BC’s Annual General Meeting. Learn more at sci-bc.ca/awards.
