Wendy McClelland spent three years recovering from an illness that ate away at her spinal column, left her in a body cast for several months, and resulted in her having to re-learn to walk. Now, the Abbotsford business woman and single mom of three is helping others to learn from her experience. McClelland has developed a new business, created a CD, started a website, and penned a book (to be released next month) - all with the theme Think Without Boundaries.

"I truly believe that all the things I learned during my illness, as well as what I knew before, can be beneficial to people, and I hope that by sharing them I can enrich others' lives," she said. McClelland wants to encourage others to seek balance in their lives between work and play - to focus on the things they really want to do and to make the time to appreciate the little things. It's a lesson that McClelland said she learned the hard way. The self-proclaimed former workaholic was at the peak of her career in September 1999.

Her consulting company, the Biz Resource Group, was named New Business of the Year by the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce. Her related website was chosen by the New York Times as "one of the best business sites on the 'Net."

McClelland worked with clients - mainly from B.C., Alberta and California - to develop their online presence and integrate that with their day-to-day business. "At any one time, I would have three or four web designers working for me on contract," she said.The last major speech she did before her illness was for a group of 1,500 teachers in Alberta, where she talked to them about bringing technology into the classroom.It was Labour Day weekend of 1999 when McClelland came down with what she thought was a stomach flu that she caught from one of her daughters. (She has a son, now 20, and two girls, ages 16 and 17.) Over a period of two months, her symptoms intensified. She couldn't keep down any food, and she alternated between constant chills and fever. McClelland was too ill to work, and she could no longer care for her children, who then moved in with their dad. She made an estimated dozen trips to her doctor, but she was not correctly diagnosed. (McClelland later sued him for medical negligence, but the lawsuit was dismissed last summer.)

It took a trip to the emergency room one evening to discover the culprit of McClelland's condition. She had phoned a friend to take her to the hospital when she couldn't walk. "I could feel the bones crunching and breaking in my spine," she said.

Within hours, blood tests revealed that McClelland's body had been invaded by an E.coli bacterial infection which had invaded her spinal column. It had eaten away the lower three vertebrae and two discs. There is no way to pinpoint the exact source of the bacteria, but doctors think it was likely present in something McClelland ate.

"It somehow got a hold in my body and I wasn't able to fight it off for some reason," she said.
What followed was an excruciatingly slow recovery process, which began with a 63-day hospital stay and a number of months in a body cast to stabilize McClelland's spine. The cast ran from her neck to her knees.

The formerly on-the-go, fiercely independent career woman now had to depend on others for her daily needs. Upon her release from hospital, she moved in with her parents. Day-to-day tasks, such as getting dressed and walking across the room, became lessons in perseverance and patience. When the body cast was removed, she had to learn to walk again and rebuild the strength in her atrophied muscles.

The uncertainty of her future was, at times, emotionally overwhelming for McClelland.
"I remember saying to my mom, 'I'm afraid to live and I'm afraid to die,' " she said. She relied on her strong faith to get her through, often asking herself this crucial question each morning: "What lesson am I supposed to learn today?"

McClelland tried not to dwell on her unfortunate situation and instead looked at the positive steps she could take. "I would consider it a victory if I got myself out of bed and get dressed . . . and just walking to the end of the driveway and back," she said. She took time to notice the sights and sounds around her - the way that pine needles felt in her hand or the scurrying of the cat across the street as it was called home by its owner. McClelland spent much time contemplating her future and what direction she wanted her life to take. She vowed that she would focus more on doing the things that brought her joy.

McClelland was well enough to move back home in April 2000, and her kids joined her two months later. It took another two years, however, before she was strong enough to resume work.
She launched a new business, Think Without Boundaries Consulting. She said she loves helping people market and develop their own businesses, but she is more selective now about her clients.
"If I take on a client, it's because I really feel like it's the right thing to do," she said.
McClelland also became the first person in B.C. to be certified as a "guerrilla marketing coach." As such, she helps people market their businesses with little or no money.

She also created a CD, called Living Life with Passion, in which she shares some of her thoughts and experiences. McClelland's book, called Think Without Boundaries, is in the final editing stages and its planned release is in March. It provides steps that people can take to set goals and move forward in their lives, she said.

If it sounds like a lot to take on, McClelland said she does it all at a slower, more deliberate pace than she would have in the past. Above all, she wants people to learn from her experience - that within life's challenges, there are tremendous opportunities for growth.