"I couldn't work," [Blair Webber], now 50, recalls. "I wouldn't wish this on anybody, not even Saddam Hussein."

"The pain goes away for eight, maybe 12 hours if I'm lucky," says Webber, whose career started as a roadie for Harlequin in the late '70s. "At least I can get some sleep."

"It's sobering to see the challenges Blair has faced, and we know he's not the only one," says Winnipeg businessman Ken Macdonald, 51.