It's a dismal coincidence that has aligned injured Yukoners Dan LeBlanc and Andy Johnsgaard.

Both were injured on dirt bike accidents.

Both face the emotional and physical challenges of paralysis.

And, startlingly enough, both worked on the S.S. Klondike sternwheeler in Whitehorse as part of its maintenance and restoration crew.

Of inspiring significance to their circumstances is the fire in their hearts to face each day with optimism.

'I am doing OK,' LeBlanc said in a recent telephone interview from Vancouver.

'Well, I'm in my apartment, and it's right on the beach, Jerico Beach, and most of my careworkers are pretty good. And I have a lovely girlfriend.

'But it's pretty cold, -3.'

LeBlanc was injured in the summer of 2004 while riding his dirt bike in the Carcross Desert, and has been diagnosed as a quadriplegic.

Johnsgaard was hurt this past September in an accident along the Annie Lake Road.

Though he was initially diagnosed as a complete quadriplegic, Johnsgaard's condition has been upgraded.

'I am doing better than anybody ever expected, and I am making gains further than anybody had expected,' Johnsgaard said on his cell phone, while lying on a physiotherapy bed for treatment.

He said he has a full range of movement in his arms, though the bottom halves are still numb. But he is able to get out of a wheelchair on his own.

He can move his feet slightly. The fingers on his right hand move with assistance. The fingers on his left hand, however, are working fine.

'I can eat on my own with my left hand,' said the cheery voice. 'I can groom myself.

'I can even manage to sign my Visa.'

The 54-year-old father of four has worked for Parks Canada on the S.S. Klondike in Whitehorse, and up in Old Crow, and is comfortable in the bush working his own trapline.

He says the task before him is to maintain a positive attitude toward life, and the ability to continually get better.

'The main thing is, the bottom line, is I am doing really well, my spirits are doing pretty good,' he says. 'You always have your bad days and your good days, but overall I'm making excellent progress here.'

Johnsgaard says the support the community, his family and friends have shown has been overwhelming.

'I can't thank everybody enough for the support they are giving me.'

Dito from LeBlanc.

'I would really especially like to thank Jim Jewel (of Skagway) and his son Max for saving my life out there in Carcross,' says LeBlanc.

He says he misses the Yukon and the friendliness of the North where people like to meet people, do things together and stuff.

Vancouver just isn't the same, he suggests.

LeBlanc says he was awestruck by all the help the people of Whitehorse and the Yukon have given him.

'I want to thank everybody for their help,' he says.

LeBlanc is scheduled to travel to Cleveland, Ohio next month for surgery to have a pacemaker installed for his lungs. He is currently on a ventilator that forces the air in and out of his lungs.

The pacemaker, he says, will enable him to breathe on his own.

'I am really excited.'

LeBlanc is also looking forward to the coming spring.

A group of retired engineers who build things for disabled people have embarked on a project to outfit a sailboat for LeBlanc at a sailing club just down the way from his apartment.

LeBlanc will be able to sail the boat on his own by using the same apparatus that allows him to manoeuvre his wheelchair, adds his girlfriend, Kathy Foster.

'So anytime, I can go out on the water,' says LeBlanc. 'I love the ocean. I grew up next to it back in Nova Scotia.'

Like Johnsgaard, LeBlanc has his good days and bad days

'But mostly, I'm doing OK.'

Both and LeBlanc and Johnsgaard were residing for a time together at Vancouver's GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre.