About Susan Marshall and the Fighting Spirit Award
*2024 nominations are now closed. Nominations will reopen in early 2025.
Susan Marshall became a C5 quadriplegic as a result of a motor vehicle crash in Nova Scotia in August 1985. Serious health issues and difficulties from surgical complications plagued her life after disability. She always managed to laugh, joke and smile, despite the constant pain and suffering which she was forced to endure. Her main concern was always the well–being of the other people in her life. On numerous occasions, when the medical professionals were about to give up hope, Susan would bounce back against seemingly impossible odds. This “fighting spirit” was immediately apparent to anyone who came in contact with Susan and impacted many of us.
Following Susan’s death in 1999, her good friend Roger Jones honoured her legacy by establishing the Susan Marshall Fighting Spirit Award Fund within the BC Paraplegic Foundation.
After a fifteen-year hiatus, we are relaunching this prestigious award. Nominations will open March 1, 2024 and close May 31, 2024. The award, which includes a cheque for $1,000, will be presented at SCI BC’s 2024 Annual General Meeting.
Nominations
The recipient of the “Susan Marshall Fighting Spirit Award” is a person with a spinal cord injury who best exemplifies the strength and character that was exhibited by Susan herself.
Who is eligible to receive the award
The recipient of the “Susan Marshall Fighting Spirit Award” is a person with a spinal cord injury, currently living in British Columbia, who best exemplifies the strength and character that was exhibited by Susan herself.
Past award winners include:
- 2000 – Mary Williams
- 2001 – Ted Brownlee
- 2002 – Ron Stead
- 2003 – Maudy Bevan
- 2004 – Johanna Johnson
- 2005 – Robert Kay
- 2006 – Sherry Caves
- 2007 – Brad Jacobson
- 2009 – Diana Dimitru
How to nominate someone for the award
Nominations are made through the online form, below. We encourage the Nominator (the person who is nominating someone for the award) to let the Nominee (the person being nominated for the award) know that they are being nominated for the Susan Marshall Fighting Spirit Award and to ensure they are okay with being nominated.
Nominators must fill in all the fields in the award form, below. Submissions will be sent to SCI BC’s awards@sci-bc.ca email address and reviewed by the Susan Marshall Fighting Spirit Award Committee.