Michael Oesch Affirmed: Cross-Canada Walker Now in Long-Term Care¶
Day 2 · 2:05:43 · Shawn Buckley · Michael Oesch
- 🚶 Former film artist who walked Toronto–Labrador and Toronto–Vancouver was fully healthy and medication-free before vaccination.
- 🚌 He crowdfunded nearly $4,000 for a wheelchair van and assistant, then offered spare seats to other injured witnesses.
- ❤️ He opens by thanking his wife Saskia and stressing that families suffer alongside the injured.
Introduction of Michael Oesch, his extraordinary pre-injury life and journey to the inquiry.
← Medical Abandonment, Spike-Protein Proof, and Lost Autonomy | Fourth Dose Triggers Spinal Lesion, Spasms and Wheelchair Life →
Transcript¶
Shawn Buckley · 2:05:43
So our next witness is Michael Oesch. Michael, am I saying that correctly? Okay, which, which do you prefer? Osh. Okay, I'll, I'll keep it that way then. And, uh, can someone put the Bible in Michael's right hand?
Michael Oesch · 2:06:02
Um, I would rather swear on the, uh, Charters of Rights and Freedoms.
Shawn Buckley · 2:06:07
Well, we can't do that. We're either swearing on the Bible or we're affirming, and we're— it makes no difference to us.
Michael Oesch · 2:06:12
I'll just affirmate.
Shawn Buckley · 2:06:13
Okay, so Michael Oesch, do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yeah, I'm very pleased to have you here, Michael, and, um, you're a very unusual person. So, and I— you knew I meant that as a compliment. So just so that people watching, Michael, understand, in 2002, where did you walk from and to? Okay, like walked. Okay, do we just hang on?
Michael Oesch · 2:06:49
Hang on.
Shawn Buckley · 2:06:50
Is your mic— is his mic on, David?
Michael Oesch · 2:06:52
Okay, cool.
Shawn Buckley · 2:06:53
Okay, so, um, and then in 2005, where did you walk to? And okay, just wait, we, we— mic isn't working, so we're gonna Start again.
Michael Oesch · 2:07:18
Can you hear me now?
Shawn Buckley · 2:07:19
Yeah. Okay, let me— Chodark, can you pull this around a bit and then pull it right around and then push me in just a bit? Oops, there we go.
Michael Oesch · 2:07:33
That's wheelchair accidents. I'm insured though.
Speaker J · 2:07:37
Yeah.
Shawn Buckley · 2:07:38
Well, we're not. So, so we'll, we'll start again. So, Michael, because I just want everyone to, to, to hear, because I don't know how many people walk across this nation.
Michael Oesch · 2:07:50
More than you would think.
Shawn Buckley · 2:07:51
Okay. But it's not that many. So in 2002, you walked from Toronto to Labrador and back.
Michael Oesch · 2:07:57
Correct. Around the St. Lawrence Valley.
Shawn Buckley · 2:07:59
And then in 2005, you were telling us about your journey.
Michael Oesch · 2:08:03
At the time, I was working at the Hockey Hall of Fame. For the CBC, uh, doing Hockey: A People's History, the documentary. And that was the year of the hockey strike. And I quit my job at the Hockey Hall of Fame, and I walked all the way to the statue of Lord Stanley in Stanley Park.
Shawn Buckley · 2:08:19
You know, many of us during the hockey strike, I think, felt compelled to do desperate things, but not walk across the country. So, uh, but yeah, and then, so you did film, television. Tell us about—.
Michael Oesch · 2:08:30
Yeah, I was an artist most of my life. Film, television, music, video editor, audio recording. I've done everything from rock videos to infomercials in my time.
Shawn Buckley · 2:08:43
And what was your health like before vaccination?
Michael Oesch · 2:08:46
I was completely healthy, working in my garden, semi-retired, working as a school bus driver, active, walking my dog every day. A bit, a bit heavy than I should have been, but I was still in good health.
Shawn Buckley · 2:08:59
And no, no medications?
Michael Oesch · 2:09:01
No medication at all.
Shawn Buckley · 2:09:03
So, uh, David, can we pull up the first photo of, of Michael? So can you tell us about this photo?
Michael Oesch · 2:09:09
Uh, this is the photo walking out the North Shore of Quebec, taken by mon ami Christian Fleury, a photographer from Montreal. Um, and it's on my first trip walking out to Labrador.
Shawn Buckley · 2:09:20
Okay. And David, do you want to pull up the next photo?
Michael Oesch · 2:09:24
That's That is March 30th, 2024, the day before I left to go on my trip to Vancouver.
Shawn Buckley · 2:09:32
Okay, walking, walking Toronto to Vancouver. And there's people watching internationally, they don't like— how many, how many kilometers is that?
Michael Oesch · 2:09:41
Uh, from Toronto to Vancouver is roughly 5,000. Uh, from Toronto out to Labrador and back was 6,800.
Shawn Buckley · 2:09:49
Okay, and here I thought you walked a long distance. So, okay, so you're healthy, vibrant, really artist, and your genre was more video and film. What happens? Tell us about your vaccine journey.
Michael Oesch · 2:10:06
Well, when the pandemic happened, you know, before we go any further, the first thing I want to say is I want to say all my love to my wife Saskia, who cannot attend today. Without her during the past four years, I don't know where I would be. And although she can't attend today, I know she's watching and I just want to send her my love and let her know that as much as it is that the injured people who get vaccine injured, it's also the families that suffer. And I know she suffered through this with me, and I want to acknowledge that and just say I love you, Ducky.
Shawn Buckley · 2:10:43
And before you go into the vaccine injured story, I also want to— if you can share with us your journey of how you got here into this committee room, because you've fundraised and you—.
Michael Oesch · 2:10:55
I was very lucky that the documentary that was done about me, Why Can't We Talk About This, brought a lot of attention to me. And when I was mentioned that I was coming to the committee here, It's a rather expensive journey for me to rent a wheelchair vehicle, a hotel that's capable of having wheelchair people, and my personal assistant. It's costing me almost $4,000 to be here today.
Shawn Buckley · 2:11:25
And so you crowdfundraised for that?
Michael Oesch · 2:11:28
I'm very lucky that I have a lot of friends who want me to be here today and have raised enough money for me to be here. And, you know, with that, the wheelchair vehicle that I rented is as large as a city wheelchair vehicle that they can have a 5-seater with 3 wheelchairs can fit in it. And I've offered anyone who's here the ability to use that today. So if we're moving around to later today, we're going to, we're going to make sure they get there.
Shawn Buckley · 2:11:55
Right. So you're actually helping some other people.
Michael Oesch · 2:11:58
Well, you know what? As bad as my condition is, it doesn't mean that I can't still be of service to others. And that's why I choose to live.
Shawn Buckley · 2:12:07
I, I'll tell you just a personal story. So you, you rent this wheelchair bus, yeah, and then you send an internal email, um, basically saying, I'm offering anyone who needs a ride, you know, in Southern Ontario, yeah, yeah, in, in this bus.
Michael Oesch · 2:12:26
Were you here today?
Shawn Buckley · 2:12:27
Yeah, right. Because you're doing some ferrying around.
Michael Oesch · 2:12:30
Well, I'm very lucky. I have a friend of mine who's a DARTS, disabled driver, from Vancouver, and he's taken time off to be here today to help me and also to help anyone else who needs help with the wheelchair.
Shawn Buckley · 2:12:43
Yeah. So what I wanted to share with you is, is when my wife Teresa read your email, which it was in the evening, I think she wept for about 2 hours. She was so touched. And so you're setting an example for the rest of us that regardless of what our condition is, we're to love other people.
Michael Oesch · 2:13:03
Well, you know what? One of the things I live by now is the motto: taking the DISS at a disability.
Shawn Buckley · 2:13:09
Okay. So do you want to share with us your journey now?
Michael Oesch · 2:13:13
Yes, I do. You know, starting at the beginning of the pandemic, My father-in-law and mother-in-law were in long-term care and assisted care. My parents were in retirement homes, and the, the need to be a primary caregiver to them made me want to get the vaccine so that I could be there for them. And I did my first dose in 2020, late 2020, early 2021.