Former Child Client Reflects on Impact the Centre Had on His Future Success
Mike Hannah is a former child client at Five Counties.
Mike Hannah hasn’t let a life-long movement disorder slow him down, and he credits Five Counties Children’s Centre for helping him to hit the ground running.
The Kawartha Lakes resident – who is a member of the Lindsay and District Sports Hall of Fame — is well-known for his athletic exploits and charity work. In October 2024, he biked from Omemee to Lindsay to raise funds for Five Counties to support high-demand children’s treatment services in his community.
Receiving treatment at Five Counties is something with which Mike is familiar. Born with Cerebral Palsy, he began receiving speech therapy and occupational therapy at Five Counties in 1976. That was only a year after Five Counties opened its doors in Peterborough as a children’s treatment centre to serve the surrounding region.
“I would probably not be where I am today. Five Counties changed my life,” Mike says.
Back then, Five Counties didn’t have a presence in Lindsay (that didn’t come until 1981), so Mike and a handful students from other schools in and around what was then known as Victoria County were bused twice a week to the Centre in Peterborough for treatment. Mike remembers working with his speech therapist on his language skills, as well as other Centre staff who assisted with his walking, movement and balance. “I really improved a lot,” he says, noting the determination and support of his parents made a big difference too.
Mike also has fond memories of attending Camp Omigolly, a summer day camp offered at Emily Provincial Park for Five Counties clients. Being able to play and interact with other kids who had disabilities also let him know he wasn’t alone.
Mike shown in Lindsay Post picture from 1985, wearing some of his athletic medals.
But it was being introduced by Five Counties to the “disabled games” in 1981 that really put Mike on the path to his life-long passion for sports. That year, Peterborough was hosting what was then called the Games for the Disabled and 12-year-old Mike successfully hit his stride, winning two gold and two silver medals in track and field events.
“Five Counties got me into sports, so that really opened up for me a whole different view of what I could accomplish,” he notes.
Over the next two decades, Mike would win dozens of medals at regional, provincial, and national track-and-field competitions. He set many records and made many friends along the way as he took part in running, swimming, shot put, discus, javelin, hammer throw and other events.
With Five Counties marking its 50th anniversary in 2025, Mike is grateful to share what the Centre has helped him achieve – just as he wants to inspire others with disabilities.
“If I can show to other kids, it doesn’t matter whether you have a disability or not, you can still achieve things,” Mike says. “Hopefully they can see, if he can do it, I can do it.”
Category: General News