By Shelden Rogers
STIRLING – At 26 years old, Phil Kerr has lived up to his childhood dreams, but in a different way than he expected.
Kerr has been jumping waves on his wake board and ripping up the tracks on his dirt bike his whole life, both with and without the use of his legs.
When Kerr was 13 years old, doctors found a cancerous tumour wrapped around his spine.
After the tumour was removed, Kerr couldn’t feel his legs – although at first he wasn’t too worried. His main thought was, “I’ve got one week until the next race – how am I supposed to race my dirt bike?” he recalls.
But Kerr quickly learned that he wouldn’t be back on his feet in time for his next race. Doctors told him that he would be in a wheelchair for a while.
“I remember one of the nurses was talking to me, she’s like ‘Yeah, there is this one boy that has something similar to you, and he came in to visit me four years later and he is really good in his wheelchair, he can do wheelies.’ I was like, ‘Four years?’ I was pissed. ‘There is no way I’m going to be in this for four years.’ ”
But after fighting and hoping for years, Kerr finally gave in.
“It took me about five years until it hit me that it ain’t changing. I remember when that happened, I was like, ‘Holy, this is actually it. This is how it is.’ ”
That didn’t stop him from being the person he is.
Kerr still rides the same dirt bike he did before his sickness. He has even developed a wake board that allows him to jump the same waves as the pros. But that wasn’t enough.
When Kerr was 16, he and a group of friends created a clothing company. They called it Twisted Mounty. The name, he explained, came about because they wanted a Canadian reference, plus “Twisted” was part of the title of his favourite dirt-biking video when he was younger.
“We were doing silkscreening in art class, and I was like, ‘I’m stealing one of these.’ It was right after class. There were a bunch of screens and inks that they hide in the closet. We took one tube of red ink, one squeegee and one screen. Then I went down to Wal-Mart, bought a bunch of white T-shirts, went to my parents’ garage and then silkscreened some shirts.”
The clothing line has been a hit ever since. Kerr sells shirts, sweaters, hats and custom prints at his store in Stirling, his hometown. The store is also called Twisted Mounty.
He uses the brand to stay connected to the things he loves: dirt biking, snowboarding and wakeboarding. He always dreamed of being a professional and getting sponsored at one of those things.
“I can’t get sponsored anymore, so I need to sponsor people.” He sponsors all kinds of motocross riders, from locals to professionals. The experience has given him the chance to hang out with the pros he once looked up to.
He even sponsors Canadian rap artist Classified.
“One day I was cutting the lawn, listening to Classified, because I love Classified. I’m cutting the lawn, daydreaming, listening to Classified, picturing him on stage wearing a Mounty shirt. Then that summer I went to Wakestock, and Classified was performing. I crowdsurfed and the whole crowd goes crazy. You can’t even hear them performing because they are all cheering. Then after that I got to meet (Classified and crew) and they were just stoked on the crowd surf. So I told them all about Twisted Mounty and they were like, ‘I will wear that, that’s sick.’ ”
He can now call them close friends, he said,
Kerr has appeared in two of Classified’s music videos, been to over 20 of his shows, and even toured with him.
[1]Phil Kerr crowd surfs at a Classified concert. Photo courtesy of Phil Kerr.
Looking back at everything, Kerr wouldn’t change a thing.
“If that moment didn’t happen, this wouldn’t have happened. I wouldn’t change it. I wouldn’t change it at all. It all happens for a reason. Sometimes it takes a while to find out what the reason is. Bad will eventually turn to good, and it has turned to good. I look back and it has been pretty cool. I’m pretty stoked on how things have turned out.”
Kerr now tells his story to students in public schools around the area. He is excited that more people are able to know the story behind his company.
Looking to the future, he hopes to expand and keep doing what he loves.
“I want to have a bunch of Twisted Mounty shops. I want to be in more stores as well. I would love to travel to all of these events, being there as the sponsor. Just being there watching, taking part, selling clothes, meeting lots of cool people. Just being happy every day, doing something I love.”