Founder Bios
Garry Cyr
Garry was born and educated in the Greater Toronto Area. Garry started with the Fire and Emergency Services on January 17, 1977 and he is still with the service today. In 1979 Garry attended a fire scene and was involved in an explosion where he sustained burns, bleeding from the ears and percussion injuries. He recovered a short time later and noticed numbness and tingling in his extremities that haunt him to this day. By 1982 Garry's symptoms had increased in number and severity. His toes had become numb and at times they felt as if they were burning and/or if someone were inserting a needle under the toenail. Garry (married in 1984) and his wife (Laura) were so upset with the lack of diagnoses that they took it upon themselves to research Garry's problems on the Internet. After searching for about 2 years they found that they were not alone in their quest for answers. In fact, they had over 700 people with similar symptoms and all with no diagnosis. This is when Garry and Laura decided that it was time that patients had the answers they were looking for. In 1998 they created the Canadian Neuropathy Association. In 2001 the Canadian Neuropathy Association became a Not-For-Profit organization with a mandate to give patients, their families, doctors, employers, support groups and caregivers the necessary tools to help them get a proper diagnosis and treatment protocol. In 1998 there was little to nothing to be found on the Internet with regard to neuropathies. With hard work and perseverance on the part of the Canadian Neuropathy Association and others, there are now several organizations globally that share knowledge and information.
Laura Cyr
Wife of Garry Cyr and Co-Founder of the Canadian Neuropathy Association was born and educated in Toronto. Prior to starting up the Canadian Neuropathy Association, she spent several years working in the mental health sector in a variety of capacities. Garry and Laura met in the winter of 1979 and married five years later. Garry began experiencing unusual symptoms after a fire and explosion in 1979 where he had been injured and treated in hospital for those injuries. Over the next 28 years Garry was exposed to toxic smoke and chemicals from numerous fires and his symptoms became more severe. In 1998 as Garry's symptoms were becoming uncontrollable and he was not getting any answers from his family physician, he and Laura embarked on an information gathering mission to find some answers. They began by searching the Internet for information and found none. During this process they accidentally created a following of people with similar complaints and soon had 700 people signed up for more information. In 1998 the Canadian Neuropathy Association was formed. In 2001 the C.N.A. became a non-profit organization.
