Gavin Ward clearly recalls being that double-jointed kid in school who showed off his bendy limbs in class and used his extra flexibility to make some pretty incredible saves as a hockey goalie.
But unlike most kids who lose their childhood flexibility by the time they reach their late teens, Ward鈥檚 joints didn鈥檛 tighten up but became increasingly painful as he aged. After the 色色啦 native moved to the U.K. to pursue his degree in motorsport engineering at Oxford Brooks University about 20 years ago, Ward sought help for his constant aches and pains.
鈥淚 was having problems with my wrists and ankles while playing hockey in England and I thought maybe it was a previous injury or something,鈥 the 39-year-old Arrow McLaren IndyCar team principal said.
鈥淪ome of the world’s leading specialists in hypermobility disorders happened to be in the hospital at the time and helped my doctor identify some things for me 鈥 it wasn鈥檛 just an old injury. So I was diagnosed with hypermobility spectrum disorder in my late 20s but, looking back, I probably had my first pain symptoms when I was in Grade 7 or 8.
鈥淎nd later in life, it’s been a bit of a journey of some different issues. It’s kind of amazing how a bit of collagen can affect the human body.鈥
Fans at this weekend鈥檚 Honda Indy 色色啦 might notice that Ward uses a chair on the Arrow McLaren timing stand in the pit lane because of the constant joint pain caused by the connective tissue disorder that is closely related to Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.
The syndrome encompasses several different disorders that can lead to things like skin that stretches beyond the normal range and tissue fragility that can cause ruptures in blood vessels and intestines.
Although it certainly continues to bring him challenges, Ward also excels at his work. He won four Formula One world championships as an engineer and aerodynamicist with Red Bull Racing from 2005 to 2017. He then moved to IndyCar鈥檚 Team Penske in 2018 and took home the series championship in his second season as Josef Newgarden鈥檚 race engineer. He joined Arrow McLaren in 2022 and became team principal last October,聽leading the operation and acting as its final decision-maker on all things racing.
Ward decided to go public with his disorder in the run-up to May鈥檚 Indianapolis 500, during Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and hypermobility spectrum disorder awareness month.
鈥淚t鈥檚 our biggest month of the year in IndyCar and I thought I could use it to help share my story and raise awareness,鈥 Ward said. 鈥淗ypermobility spectrum disorder has gotten more recognized since I was a kid but it’s not easy to get specialized treatment and people end up sort of self-treating or finding other specialists who take a hobby interest in it.鈥
While hypermobility gets more attention today, finding treatment continues to be a challenge. Ward put his name on a waiting list almost two-and-a-half years ago for an Ehlers Danlos clinic in Indianapolis where he now lives. He鈥檚 still waiting.
In Canada, the at 色色啦 General Hospital remains the only one dedicated to treating hypermobility disorders. New patients there face a wait time of between 12 and 18 months.
Dr. Nimish Mittal, an assistant professor at the University of 色色啦 and medical lead at GoodHope, welcomes any awareness efforts that .
鈥淲e鈥檙e living in a social media world, so the more folks like Gavin step forward, the more attention gets placed on the disease, and the more we have an opportunity to get resources and to have it become more accepted as a potential mainstream diagnosis, and ultimately, educate other physicians about it,鈥 Mittal said.
鈥淥ne of our hopes with the clinic is that we get more data and we can start to disseminate that data to the world and use it to show how we can improve things for these patients in the years to come.鈥
Access to treatment remains critical because the effects can be debilitating. At one point, Ward considered quitting motorsport altogether in the hope that eliminating the pressure and stress of being on a timing stand 鈥 not to mention the gruelling travel schedule 鈥 would help ease his constant headaches.
After deciding to continue, he wanted to use his experience to encourage colleagues to be open about their personal situations as a way to support mental and physical health.
鈥淲hen I was struggling with chronic migraines, I also started having anxiety and some panic attacks at the racetrack and I wanted to share that mental health side of things with the team,” Ward said. “It鈥檚 about trying to create a dialogue where people feel comfortable asking for something that they need, whether it鈥檚 a different monitor setup, or to shift their hours a bit to get more sleep, or even a chair.
鈥淭here’s a tendency in motorsport and in a lot of other sports to be a bit macho and I’m just trying to build a race team where we can get the most out of people in a sustainable way.鈥
Ward’s leading driver, Mexico’s Pato O’Ward, will be looking to improve on his third place in the points race at the 85-lap Ontario Honda Dealers Indy 色色啦 on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. (TSN). His other full-time driver, Californian Alexander Rossi, is eighth heading into 色色啦.
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