Navigating Her New Normal

Tracy MacCharles, the former Ontario Minister of Accessibility, never planned to be a politician until she saw a newspaper article reporting that the then-current MPP was going to retire. She wondered what it would take to work as a Member of Provincial Parliament. She liked public service and had worked for 10 years in the Ontario government before moving to the private sector as a Human Relations professional in financial institutions like National Trust and Manulife and climbing the ladder to a Vice-President position. She understood government from a bureaucratic point of view, but didn’t have any political experience. She knew lawn signs but didn’t know about political parties or even how to get nominated. AND SO, HER POLITICAL JOURNEY BEGAN.

Tracy MacCharles never planned to be an amputee since being just hours away from a scheduled amputation of her left leg. She was diagnosed with bone cancer in her left leg when she was a teenager. At the last minute, her surgeon connected with an American colleague who had developed a limb-saving surgery for young cancer patients. Her femur and knee were replaced by a rod and hinge cemented to her shin bone. Thirty years later, as a young mother of twins, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. More surgery and more chemotherapy. At age 59 she became an above-knee amputee. She knew disability well, personally and professionally, but didn’t know much about living with an amputation. AND SO, HER LIMB LOSS JOURNEY BEGAN.