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stouffville suntribune thursday june 12 2003 7 thank god university grad beat the odds redeemer university in ancaster ont held its convocation may 24 among the hundreds seated in the audience were hugh and anne gagnon and daughter amanda gene and donna clarke and ron and shelley martin all of stoufrville standing in the wings was 26-year- old robert gagnon the reason for their being there as the enraptured grad walked proudly across the stage to receive his ba spontaneous applause erupted into ringing cheers and the world stood still for robert challenged by cerebral palsy his presence in so noble a setting wasnt always anticipated certainly not by his peers even- graduating from summitview- public school and stouffville high were borderline mira cles but redeemer university with majors in history religion and theology how could it this be his parents knew hispastor knew and robert knew only by the grace of god says his mother we prayed oh how we prayed and our prayers were answered this was how they knew when robert was born at scarborough centenary hospital doc tors gave him little chance if he sur vives through three days hell probably live his parents were told physicians wouldnt risk transferring him to sick childrens hospital anne said it however the little lad beat all odds only to be afflicted by epilepsy at the age of eight but he beat that also after attending with his parents a benny hinh healing crusade in worcester mass the cerebral palsy also showed signs of stability allowing robert to react to situations that previously werent possible while god has always been their guide hugh and anne readily admit they had many helping hands along the way including principal lome boadway and teachers heather campbell julia topping arid carol pridham of summitview school vice- principal jay hooper jan percy and rod brown of stouffville secondary and 1 nancy harthold a special needs instructor at redeemer university mr boadway was wonderful anne said so was colleen ormsbri a teachers helper and nurse anne describes colleen as outstanding we insisted robert be treated like everyone else hugh said in his graduation year at sdss robert earned two scholarships hugh and anne are loud in their praise of tremendous support received from pastor clarke and the congrega tion of stouffville pentecostal church because at one time in roberts univer sity association it wasnt clear if hed be able to continue due to lack of funds v there was 3000 owing from a pre vious year and a 3000 duedate rapid ly approaching hugh explained the university needed assurances funds would be forthcoming we were praying the staff was pray ing our pastor was praying arid the con gregation was praying anne recalled the result- another miracle cheques and cash poured in more than 6000 sufficient to pay off the debt and take care of tuition fees for the year ahead god had a part in the whole thing says anne he worked everything out despite roberts amazing achieve ment hes not through yet hes applied for enrolment at masters college and seminary and if accepted and successful hopes later to attend tyndale college in north york for his masters degree his ultimate goal is to serve in the field of evangelism as a rehearsal for this pastor clarke has invited robert to deliver the message at the 6 pm serv ice june 22 last week he completed a written test for his drivers licence hes working at gemini store fixtures in ballantrae roberts parents and robert too are convinced their journey through life has been a walk with god we couldnt have done it alone concludes anne gods been with us every step of the way jim thomas is a stouffville resident who has written for local newspapersfor more than 50 years roaming around with jim thomas we insisted robert be treated like everyone else hugh gagnon father of robert robert gagnon stouffville man with cerebral palsy graduates from hamiltonarea university fatners day sunday june 15 amish 1 428 hwy2 gourtiee just east of oshawa townline 9054389053 wwwoakcountrycanadacom mon fri 99 sat 9 530 sun 10 5 g tske p st e fw li a- harmony z h h 1 si 0 1 syin gaski over si million in inventory hwy 401 free delivery and setup in durham region 27 heritage road markham above ground pools in stock on sale now 9052948030 all hot tubs factory direct promotions 1700 00 discount wwwseawaypoolsntubscom come in and see all the products on sale for this weekend