30: NHL Hall of Famer & Child Sex Abuse Survivor // The Story of Sheldon Kennedy

Background:

Sheldon Kennedy won a Memorial Cup, World Junior Gold Medal and skated for three teams in his eight-year NHL career. He is best known for his courageous decision to charge his Major Junior Hockey league coach with sexual assault for the abuse he suffered over a five-year period while a teenager under his care. Through this disclosure, and the important work that Sheldon continues to do, he has become an inspiration to millions of abuse survivors around the world.

In 1998, he in-line skated across Canada to highlight the issue of child abuse and donated 100% of the proceeds ($1.2M) towards abuse prevention programs. During this skate he was presented with the keys to the cities of Ottawa, Toronto, and Winnipeg. His life story was made into an Award-Winning TV movie.

Sheldon was Co-Founder of the Calgary Child Advocacy Centre, the first-of-its-kind in Canada, offering full wrap-around services for victims of child abuse. He is also the Co-Founder of Respect Group, which provides empowering online abuse, bullying and harassment prevention education to sport organizations, schools and the workplace.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

2:25 Sheldon Kennedy couldn’t believe that he was inducted into the Canada Sports Hall of Fame.
7:25 At 15 years old, Sheldon was sexually abused by his hockey coach for many years.
9:30 Disclosing his story of sexual abuse in 1996 made him the newsmaker of the year in Canada.
13:03 After being thrust into the media limelight, Sheldon still had to undergo two treatments for his addiction problem.
17:48 The relationship and trust issues are the biggest thing that Sheldon needs to constantly work on and develop.
22:15 Telling his story to everyone helped in shifting the focus to advocating for all sorts of abuse issues.
26:47 Sheldon shares his thoughts about focusing on himself and having a good and healthy recovery.
32:20 One of Sheldon’s rockin’ it moments is getting those important relationships back into his life once again. He talks more about what his rockin’ it moments are all about.
38:03 Eric shares a little of his rockin’ it moment where he can talk about his past without triggering any emotional backlash.
41:24 In 1998, Sheldon rollerbladed across Canada. He stopped at every town in the country and talked to different people.
43:24 His rollerblading journey has taught him the value of listening to someone.
47:14 Sheldon explains in detail why child abuse is a very difficult crime to deal with.
49:45 Farming, running a business, and educating people with different social issues are just some of the things that keep Sheldon busy nowadays.
52:00 Having this conversation has helped Sheldon

This Episode Brought to You By:

15:06 We would love to get your feedback on Eric’s new book called The Standing Spot, which is about Eric’s personal journey through his most difficult times as a kid dealing with peer pressure, bullying, gangs, drugs, being arrested, and his road to recovery. You can check out the intro and prologue of the book available for download on StandingSpot.com and send us your comments, tips, or suggestions.
30:43 The Man, the Myth, the Canadian Legend: Eric Gilbert-Williams. Eric put together this very podcast as a passion project to help you & others. If you’d be so kind to Subscribe & Leave a Written Review of the show, it’d really make our day! You can Subscribe & Rate our Podcast right here: From Rock Bottom to Rockin’ It..

Key Points from the Interview:

“Rockin’ it for me is being able to be sober, being able to have that relationship with my daughter, my son, my partner, my family, being able to show up, be accountable. Show up when I say I’m going to show up, right, show up on time. Be prepared. That to me is critical.”
“I would say that I am who I am today because of what happened to me.”

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