Hamilton Tiger Cats' Ryan Hinds doesn’t plan on spending the rest of his life as football player. It’s the sport he has played — and played well — for years, but it’s not the only thing he thinks about when he considers his future. After all, there is an off-season every year just begging to be used for something new and exciting.
On March 14, Hinds will travel to his home country of Guyana as part of his involvement with the Guyana Help the Kids organization (GHTK). GHTK is a non-profit organization that is working to improve the inadequate state of pediatric and Neonatal health care in the country.
Hinds will be joined by Dr. Julia Pemberton and Dr. Brian Cameron from McMaster Children’s Hospital, and their team’s goal for next month’s trip is to assess the needs of the Georgetown Public Health Corporation (GPHC).
Once needs have been determined, the team will return and spend a year raising funds to build a pediatric Ward at GPHC.
“It’s one of those things that when we open up the ward, that’s just one step because the next step is teaching doctors, teaching nurses…” Hinds said.
Though football is what he is dedicated to right now, Hinds says he has always wanted to practice medicine. “I don’t remember ever wanting to be anything else. Growing up I was always kind of a science nerd.”
The 25-year-old defensive back is about to enter his third year in the CFL and his third year with the Ticats. He played football at the University of New Hampshire before moving back home to Toronto and signing with Hamilton after being drafted by the team in 2009.
Over his two years in Hamilton, Hinds has become a representative of the team in many areas, especially community and youth initiatives.
“Being a Ticat, I’m able to use that to bring whatever publicity I can to the issue [in Guyana]. It’s something that probably wouldn’t be recognized otherwise,” he said. Hinds will be writing a blog and making a video diary about his experiences.
Despite the obvious effort Hinds puts into his accomplishments on the field, he is using part of his time during the off-season to work towards medical school. He says he has no plans to quit playing football anytime soon, but being a doctor is his ultimate career goal.
At the end of last year’s season, Hinds took an internship at the McMaster Children’s hospital. It was his program supervisor Dr. Pemberton who approached him about the project in Guyana, and Hinds jumped at the opportunity.
A chance to travel to a country in need with a team of doctors and help bolster its medical community would be exciting for any aspiring medical student, but for Hinds it held a particularly significant meaning.
Hinds was born in Guyana and lived there until he was eight years old. He hasn’t been back since then, and is excited to be going back for the first time under these circumstances.
“It’s tough to even put in words how much it really means because, first of all, the whole idea of going back to the country I was born in… I mean I haven’t been back in 18 years. That is moving in itself because it’s reconnecting with your roots”
Along with Dr. Cameron and Dr. Pemberton, Hinds will be joined by his father, Ecliffe Hinds. It will be the first trip back to Guyana for Ecliffe as well.
“To be able to go back and be able to impact my home country in a positive way in a potentially huge capacity would be just so rewarding. To have the opportunity to help my country is something that’s huge for me. Like I said, it’s hard to put in to words…but it’s moving.”
While Hinds and his team will hold fundraising events over the next year, they will also be accepting donations online at www.guyanahelpthekids.com.
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