How Boxing Changed My Life
My name is Dave Murphy I'm 47 years old and I live in Claresholm, Alberta however I grew up in many small towns in Newfoundland (Canada) I would to share my boxing story with you and how it has saved my life and what Southpaw Boxing club did for me and my family.
I was raised in a very loving family by two amazing parents who were Salvation Army officers, along with my brother and sister we were fortunate to be around giving our entire lives. We did however move every 2-4 years as they were stationed in different cities all across the province. In 1992 my father received the call that he was being transferred to Ottawa and this city was where my life changed forever.
In April 1994 I was outside of Bayshore Shopping Mall and got in to a heated argument with three guys (It’s been so long I don’t remember the cause or what started it) I remember one of the guys coming at me to punch me so I attempted to defend myself. I remember the three of them swarming around me and then after about twenty seconds they all took off. I started to walk away then I put my hand on my leg and looked at it. The site of my hand covered in blood I fell to the ground in the mall parking lot. I had been stabbed twice on my leg and nine times on my back. I had a punctured lung and one knife wound I was told after I missed my heart by ONE inch. I remember an older lady holding my hand and she kept holding my hand in the ambulance right to the hospital.
My muscle in my left leg was severely torn and major surgery was required, also to fix my lung that had been punctured. When I woke up from surgery I asked where the lady was that was in the ambulance and no one had any clue what I was talking about. You can think about that whatever you like I however feel it was someone looking out for me. For almost four months I was laid up on a couch and had to learn how to walk all over again, because of this I put on a lot of weight which I never recovered from. I had multiple doctors tell me I’d always have problems walking for the rest of my life. For a lot of years, I let that be my excuse to be lazy and continued to put on weight. After I recovered from the accident, I wanted to pay it back so I would bring cans of Timmies coffee to fire halls and police stations whenever I would get the chance. It was my small way of saying thank you.
Fast forward to 2007 and a very close friend of mine was serving with the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan and he was so excited because they were opening a Tim Hortons on the base for them. I asked him if they had to pay for it and he said yes. My reply was “Not Anymore” I started a small Facebook group called Tim Hortons For Our Troops and asked people to send the paper certificates with a message of thanks on the back of them. Within a few days it had about 3000 members and was spreading like wildfire. VOCM News in Newfoundland did a story on it and that’s when things went crazy. I contacted the MFRC in Toronto and they gave out their address as a place where people could send them, and they would have them delivered. CITY NEWS in Toronto then picked this story up and within the first year we had sent over $100,000 in free coffee to soldiers with messages of support on the back of them.
In January of 2020 ago I was on a CALGARY ROAST AND TOAST page (A site for posting positive and negative things within our city) I posted a thank you to two guys who were making fun of me the first time I tried a gym about a year before. I was on an exercise bike and two guys behind me on the treadmill I could hear them referring to the back of my neck as a package of sausages and laughing very loudly. Those guys lit a fire under me although it messed me up for a while it eventually was used as motivation.
I was contacted by the owners at Southpaw Boxing Gym in Calgary who saw my story and offered me a year membership and training to hit my goals. Boxing has changed my life, after struggling with PTSD for 16 years from my incident this place has been a Godsend. They are truly a family there and right from the owners to the trainers and all the members I have never had so much support in my life.
The next day I did my first Circuit class with and it was rough. The trainer was amazing and so supportive and told me to start at my own pace. For the first time in my life I did a burpee I had heard many horror stories about them but here I was doing them for thirty seconds at a time in-between each workout station. At the end of the class I was sitting on the floor well mostly because I couldn't move but every member that was in the class with me came over and gave me a fist bump and said "Awesome job man" I finished my class and went in to the change room and thankfully I was alone because I was a mess.
Not to get all cheesy here but I for the first time in my life felt welcome at a gym. Class after class with I started to feel less and less sore and one of the stations on a most recent day was running on a treadmill for 2:00. To most that may not seem like a big deal but I have half a muscle in my left leg from a stabbing in 1994 so I hadn't even tried to run in over 25 years. I looked at her and said "I don't know if I can do this" she just nodded and said "Just try" so I did and succeeded. The next class with her it wasn't one of the stations but I had adrenaline going and decided to run again. She gave me a belief in myself that I haven't had in a very long time.
THE MEMBERS : Now I've met a lot of people that go to this gym in the last seven months (It was closed for three due to Covid) and they are nothing like any people I've ever met in a gym. It is 100% a family there and I have become close friends with many of the members. A few months ago my wife and kid were out of town and it was a few days before pay day. Randomly one of the members asked what I was eating while the wife was away. I don't remember what I responded with but within a few hours he was at my door with two boxes of Chef's Plate meals without question. I have never been in a place where there is NO judgement at all. No one cares what anyone looks like they're just there to try and better themselves and help others. The PROS that go there will stop a workout to come and give you tips which still blows my mind to this day.
After six weeks at Southpaw and trying various classes I started to eye the speed bag. I had seen people using it and decided to give it a try and having the coordination of a turnip I could only keep the thing going with one hand for about ten seconds at a time. My first attempt at the speedbag. A coworker said "You look like a little kitten playing with a ball of string in this video" I shrugged it off and it just let my fire to go and keep trying.
I have been practicing a lot and this is my most recent date with the speedbag.
I have been boxing since January of 2020 and with half a muscle in my leg I have completed over 80 boxing classes, 20 Russian Army boot camps and many visits to open gym time. My wife and I have a six year old daughter who had been in karate for a year but she wanted to box like her dad so my wife and I put her in kids classes and loving it. My wife also decided to join me and has done a few classes with me.
Southpaw reaching out to me has been the best thing that happened to me and my family since we’ve all been together for six years now. I am so thankful they reached out and I hope my story inspires others to just be kind to one another. Our six year old daughter is loving the kids class, she was in Karate for a year but wanted to try boxing like her dad and she is crushing it. My wife also inspired decided to join me and has done a few classes already. They are my reason I wake up every day and the fact I'm going to be around longer for them makes every moment of pain at the gym worthwhile.
If you want to change your life visit SOUTHPAW's page today.
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