Theresa Ducharme

Theresa Ducharme

By: Matthew He

Theresa Ducharme, (1945-2004) was a Métis Canadian activist who fought for rights for herself and people around her. She lived in Winnipeg, Manitoba. When she was a teen, she was a model, but at the age of eight. She was diagnosed with polio, which left her in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. In 1978, she was married to Clifford Ducharme. She died of a heart attack at the age of 59.

Theresa was a very determined and positive person. She was responsible for make several public services wheelchair accessible. Even when she was modeling she tried to make modeling available to native girls to boost their self-esteem. In 1981, she became the first person ever with medical problems to fly in an airplane, but it didn’t come easy. She had fought tirelessly with the officials from Air Canada and the government for a long time in order to get on the plane to Vancouver. Even though Theresa had very serious medical conditions, she didn’t believe in euthanasia (where one ends their life mercifully). In 1993, she asked the supreme court of Canada to rule against Sue Rodriguez, who was a woman in serious medical conditions and wanted to the right to kill herself with assistance from another human being. Even though Sue Rodriguez took her life with the help of her doctor, I still agree with Theresa that one should not take their life no matter the circumstances. Later in 1995, she sued Robert Latimer because he had killed his daughter who had cerebrum which was a severe physical disability.

Theresa had done a lot for human rights within her life span. She had done a lot of work for people with disabilities. A lot of places in our city were not wheel chair accessible before she had spoken out against it. She solely believed and supported equality rights and changed views of many. Discrimination regarding handicapped people has decreased a lot because of what she’s done over the years.

Theresa had most of her life trying to bring equality between disabled people and the real world. She spent a lot of time in courts trying to make Winnipeg and Canada to help the disabled.

Biography:

http://members.shaw.ca/alappel/ducharme.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresa_Ducharme

http://www.firstnationsdrum.com/Fall%202005/AnnivTheresa.htm