Coppermine (May 15/06) - Allen Oniak sees what he can do, not what he can't.

Oniak developed arthritis in his knees when he was 20 years old. When he was 42 years old, he says he hit rock bottom because he couldn't walk any more.

"I worked until I couldn't work any more," said the father of three.

Two years of treatment later, he had his legs amputated above the knee.

"I think of it as the day of starting to recover," he said.

Born on the land near Cape Peel in 1957, Oniak grew up along the DEW line.

His father worked as a heavy equipment operator, building roads and airstrips, which meant Oniak travelled a lot as a child.

At age six, Oniak was sent to residential school in Inuvik, where he attended Sir Alexander MacKenzie school.

He recalls having a very tough time because he hardly spoke any English.

"The plane picked kids up in Kugluktuk, Spence Bay (Taloyoak) and Gjoa Haven. We flew from Cambridge Bay to Inuvik. It was a very long flight. There was probably a hundred to a few hundred kids on the plane," he said.

He finished Grade 9 in Inuvik and then moved to Kugluktuk. He finished Grades 10-12 in Yellowknife.

"I became an apprentice plumber, and went through some GNWT programs and got my journeyman ticket," said Oniak.

Eventually he had to stop plumbing because he couldn't kneel any more. He tried to work at a desk job, but wasn't happy.

"I had to have an income somehow," he said.

He applied to the Hamlet of Kugluktuk, and got a job as a lands officer. While training in Iqaluit, he ran into difficulties with the language portion of the course.

He was used to Roman orthography, and couldn't understand the Inuktitut syllabics he was expected to learn. So many people had trouble with the syllabics that the language course was dropped, he said.

Oniak underwent fittings for prosthetic legs and physiotherapy in Edmonton recently, but progress was halted when he developed an infection in his right leg.

Oniak is working towards being able to return home and to be able to walk around in his house. He is taking physio and working on building up his strength.

He says he has lots of support from family and friends back home, and has an electric wheelchair courtesy of the hamlet. Home care helps him with anything that needs doing in his house.

Despite the setbacks, Oniak is managing to remain positive and wants people to know that "anything is possible."