My name is Mark Fuchko. I served for 12 years in the Canadian Armed Forces. I did two tours to Afghanistan.
In March of 2008, while conducting an operation in Kandahar province, the vehicle I was driving struck an improvised explosive device. When the bomb went off, I remember seeing a giant red flash, hearing a ping, and I looked down. My right foot was actually sitting in my lap. At that time, I knew I was in deep trouble. I thought I was going to die for sure. I had to tourniquet my right leg. I thought I was paralyzed because I couldn't move my left leg. I reached forward to tap my left leg, and my tibiofibular immediately came out of my trousers. I had to tourniquet that leg. I was essentially trapped in my vehicle for roughly 40 minutes before my team members managed to get me out—a whole grip of top-notch first aid—and save my life. That's why I'm here talking to you today.
I have faced many barriers and challenges to transition. A lot of them are related to certain programs and the time frames that were offered. I'm currently in an after-degree program in education at the University of Calgary. It has been a very difficult and long road to get this far, not just mentally but physically, and in dealing with the apparatus of the system to provide that transition.
To go over a handful of the questions, there's a lot of information in here that I can only provide anecdotal evidence of issues that my friends have faced. There are a few that I can discuss, mainly the JPSU and the decision to go there.
I know the committee would like focus on those questions later, but some of the issues that I have faced personally are the issues with time frames. Going through, there's a certain window in which a member has to make a step towards transition to actually access these programs. That is incredibly difficult, especially when you are recovering from mental or physical wounds. You might not be in a headspace that allows you to participate in these programs because you're not ready. It's just too overwhelming. It can be quite challenging.
The other thing is that a lot of members come into the military, and depending on their educational level need to have these opportunities to say, upgrade their education or get to a certain level. That's primarily because their educational background wasn't at a level that they needed to get to when they left.
I was fortunate. I had a really, really supportive chain of command. I was posted to The Military Museums in Calgary, Alberta, which is my hometown. That was fantastic. I had support from my family, from the local community, and from the soldiers I worked with.
The other key thing was that the joint personnel support unit was integrated into the museum in Calgary. There was a close proximity to what I was doing. My chain of command was really supportive and knew the apparatus quite well. They were able to guide me and ensure I got the maximum benefit that was available to me.
One of those things was that I had to go back to do an upgrading program. I had to upgrade a class. After I took it, the institution I was at decided it was no longer a requirement for the program, so I lost a semester there. I could have been working on other items and moving forward in my education.
With regard to other programs I had access to, I came from the reserve force, so I was not entitled to a full range of benefits for education training. I was only given a 50% benefit to pursue post-secondary education. I think there were some challenges within the JPSU itself that didn't always see me getting a reimbursement for such programs. A lot of times, I had to foot the bill for my own education training.
I was very lucky, because I was able to pack in as much as I could before I transitioned to SISIP. SISIP supported me quite well. They gave me the student sponsor letter, everything I needed essentially, so I could finish the last two years of my undergraduate program.
Moving forward, I was connected with CVVRS, that's the Canadian veterans vocational rehabilitation services. That's where I was approved to move into the after-degree program in education. That is an undergraduate degree at the University of Calgary. They looked at the skills I had. They looked at my health and everything else. They said, okay, well this is a job that this individual can reasonably pursue. It was one of the areas that came up that I could probably be proficient at. I could get a job. I could move forward and do these things.
To get there, though, has been incredibly challenging. During this whole process, especially once I left the military, once I engaged with Veterans Affairs, my benefits have been constantly—quite regularly, actually—threatened to be ceased. There is the absurdity that I have to prove that my legs are still missing, the fact that my doctor has to fill out voluminous reports with X-rays, surgical reports, everything, to indicate that my legs are still missing.
I am a bilateral amputee. I'm awaiting surgery for a severe hip injury that I have. That will be taking place in May. Veterans Affairs has deemed that I have to wait to have this surgery before they can make a ruling on my disability yet again.
I have brought this up with every single person I could in government who would listen. I've been thanked for my service until the cows come home and the thanks have essentially become meaningless from certain members in the Canadian political system. I don't need to be thanked for my service. I have everyday Canadians thanking me for the stuff I've done. I have volunteered for charities. I've done all sorts of work and yet to hear the news the other day that—it's rather distressing as a veteran to hear this. What more can they do? There's a lot more that needs to be done and that needs to be moved forward.
I'm starting to get a little emotional here because this has just been such a grind, over the last several years. The fact that I have to prove that my legs are missing. The fact that there was a signature of mine missing on a piece of paper from Veterans Affairs, which led to an arbitrary letter sent to me that all my benefits would cease in days, and saying that I was not abiding by the terms of my vocational rehab. I had applied for the program.
I've been going to medical. I have physiotherapy quite regularly. I'm coordinating with my family doctor. I had to get a new family doctor because my doctor cut his services or perhaps my case was too onerous because I was constantly in there, just to get this proof and this validation for Veteran Affairs, so I could carry on with these transition programs.
Thus far, I've enabled myself to move forward and get the maximum benefit I can, but it has been an incredible challenge. I can only imagine how difficult it would be for individuals who didn't enjoy the support I did from my chain of command or the knowledge of the system that they had, so they were really able to guide me through that.
I fear that a lot of soldiers, especially injured ones or ones who don't necessarily have serious injuries, get left out in the cold because they're just not getting the opportunity. The window is too narrow for them to access these services. Given the fact that I regularly have to prove that my legs are missing, what chance do other individuals have who do not have a visible injury?
For me, it's been quite difficult. I really thank you for the opportunity to testify today. There's a whole list of questions here that I look forward to answering for each and every one of you, should you have them. I think I could probably leave it at that and pass it on to the other witnesses today.