Francois Brisebois, a retired Canadian army veteran who has been a Lake Cowichan resident for just over two years will be holding a full-day event on Sept. 22 to help people challenge themselves, step out of their comfort zones, and find a sense of community.
"Freedom Warrior Academy is me trying to share all the information I have came across on my path, so if someone is in the same boat, I want to help pass on my experience to them," said Brisebois. "If I can help one person who might be going through a mental health crisis, or give them enough information to clean up their diet, or even some inspiration, that's all I want."
Brisebois, who is originally from a little village called Clarence Creek outside of Ottawa, said since he was a boy he always dreamed of being a helicopter pilot.
The first time Brisebois was in B.C. was in 1995 when he came to Chilliwack to join the reserves during a point in his life when he wanted to see the world and do cool stuff. Between the reserves and the regular forces Brisebois was on that path for just over seven years and had the opportunity to serve as a combat engineer in the former Indonesian province of East Timor for six months between 1999 and 2000, where he was stationed with the 5th brigade.
Brisebois eventually found himself back on track to flying a chopper.
In August, 2001, Brisebois left the army through a program that allowed him to do so as long as he was going back to college, so he enroled himself in Candore, which at that time was affiliated with Gateway Helicopters based at Jack Garand Airport in North Bay. He attended flight school between 2001 and 2002 for their eight month program, and began working in the field.
Life comes with its ups and downs and Brisebois experienced the latter in spades when he lost his aviation medical in 2013 due to health concerns, making him no longer eligible to fly and bringing his lifelong dream to a halt. It was soon confirmed that he had Celiac disease, which led him to explore a world of possibilities through nutrition and fitness that involved changing a lot of his eating and drinking habits, which resulted in him losing 30 lbs in 30 days, giving him a new lease on life.
"This was mind-blowing to me because I struggled with weight most of my life," said Brisebois. "After that I knew that I could adjust to this new lifestyle change, and now I live a super clean nutritious life."
Brisebois said that he spent this past summer working on a long list of things to potentially get his aviation medical back from Transport Canada but after completing a long checklist, he finds himself frustrated and currently at a standstill, and off work from an injury he incurred while working as a faller.
Brisebois said the inspiration for his event in Lake Cowichan this Sunday under the name Freedom Warrior Academy is the culmination of his own personal growth since 2011.
The event that Brisebois is organizing will be held in coordination with the Canada Army Run program that is held in person in Ottawa and has been virtual since COVID. His mom, who died in 2013, was his inspiration for participating in his first ever and only half-marathon army run that year on Sept. 22, so he chose that as the date for this inaugural event. Being a veteran himself, and knowing another veteran in the valley who is un-housed, he sees this as an opportunity to make a difference and will be taking donations that day on site. For more information visit armyrun.ca.
"The event that I'm doing here is registered under the Army Run virtual program," said Brisebois. "Since I am already a participant in it, any money that I raise will go towards benefiting veterans. I've been working on the Freedom Warrior Academy concept for a long time, and I believe it's a beautiful thing."
Brisebois's initial event will in the right hand parking lot by the Lake Cowichan skateboard park behind Cowichan Lake Recreation Centre. The day will start with a rigorous workout beginning at 5:30 a.m., followed by the army run at 6 a.m., where participants will have the option to walk or hike a distance of five, 10, 21.1, or 36.1 km, all distances linked to the army run program. Brisebois plans to do 36.1 km wearing a 50 lb pack and has arranged transportation pick up points to take participants back to the area after the run.
The day will also include a myriad of fitness challenges behind the arena starting at 11 a.m., and a community barbecue at 1 p.m. Brisebois said that for this initial event, he plans to just go with the flow and see how the day unfolds and is hoping that participants might want to join him on a river or community clean-up to collect trash and plans to end the night building community and relationships at the Kraken game at 5:30 p.m. and hopes others will join him.
For more information on the event and Freedom Warrior academy contact Francois Brisebois at ruggedmountainfaller@gmail.com.
"My main goal is to create that same spirit of community that we had in the army," said Brisebois. "I want to show the community that when a group gets together they can accomplish anything."
