Trinity Western University President Bob Kuhn will be profiled in a new documentary, The film, which was written, directed, and produced by Kim Knechtel, features Kuhn and five others living with the disease.
“I thought maybe by sharing my struggles and small victories I’d be creating an environment for people to share theirs and feel encouraged,” said Kuhn in a recent Vancouver Sun article. Kuhn’s blog, Positively Parkinson’s, chronicles his own journey, which he hopes will inspire others to remain optimistic.
The second-most common chronic degenerative neurological disorder after Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s affects some 11,000 British Columbians and more than 100,000 Canadians. The reality of the disease’s potential consequences—Kuhn lost his father to complications from Parkinson’s four years ago—serves as a challenge and inspiration for Kuhn, a husband, father, and grandfather, to live a fuller life.
As if TWU’s President, who also runs a successful law firm, isn’t busy enough, Kuhn has been named as an ambassador for the 2013 World Parkinson Congress, which meets in Montreal, QC, from October 1-4.
“[Undefeated] is intended to reflect the challenges faced by people with Parkinson’s, how they’ve met those challenges with differing degrees of resolute commitment, or faith, or hope, or just courage,” said Kuhn, who hopes the film will have something for all viewers, whether or not they have experience with diseases such as Parkinson’s. “I think one of the things a disease like Parkinson’s does is it gives you different perspectives and makes life more meaningful in a way,” said Kuhn. “It really galvanizes your thinking into either very positive or alternatively very negative and you have to make some conscious choices as to how you’re going to approach life.”
Undefeated: An Intimate Portrait of Parkinson's airs Wednesday, September 25 at 8:00 p.m. on Global News BC1.