RON TIMPSON DR.

Whether it’s been for the elite or recreational athlete or the junior hockey player, local resident Dr. Ron Timpson has been a physician and supporter of sporting activities for almost 50 years.

“It really started back in 1968 at the Olympics in Mexico when we had 100 kids running for Canada come down with diarrhea,” said Dr. Timpson. “Diarrhea isn’t usually a major problem, but when you’re representing your country the next day, it’s a problem.” Dr. Timpson, a Sarnia native, helped form the Ontario Medical Association’s section for sports medicine with Drs. Alan Bass and James Melvin in response to the need of medically support for those athletes. He became president of the OMA’s sports medicine body in 1974 and oversaw the Canadian Academy of Sports Medicine a year later, and was also a member of the five-person medical team who treated Canadian competitors at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. “Those were the first efforts at an organizational level of getting physicians who were involved with sports and had an interest in them together,” Dr. Timpson noted.

Junior hockey watchers in the area are no doubt aware of Dr. Timpson’s contributions to the sport at the grassroots level. He began his affiliation in hockey circles while training to be an MD in Edmonton with the Jr. ‘A’ Oil Kings and the WHA’s Flyers. He moved to Wawa, Ont. in 1962 and decided to help out with the Jr. ‘B’ team and the Northern Ontario league’s establishment. After moving to Collingwood, he would serve as the Collingwood Jr. ‘B’ Blues’ physician and consultant from 1969-81. With wife Ruth and three children, Dr. Timpson also farmed for several years in Duntroon. He became medical director of the Collingwood Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation Centre in 1991.

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