A New Start for Calvin & Braveheart

Gold prospector Calvin Hamm, 44, and his three-legged dog Braveheart are inseparable companions. They’ve been through a lot of hardship together.

And Braveheart is well deserving of his name. He’s been attacked by a wolf that was twice his size and he’s been run over by a trailer truck. But he’s still standing, albeit with one fewer legs.   

Calvin and Braveheart often panhandle politely outside the Royal Centre shopping mall in downtown Vancouver.   

In the frigid recent weather, they try to stay warm and cheerful.

Some bad luck caused them to lose out on their last backwoods cabin in the Yukon, which is where Calvin pans for gold when the weather permits (usually from March to October). 

They’re now hoping for a fresh start so they can go back to panning for gold again in the Yukon to support themselves financially. 

This is why a Go Fund Me campaign has been set up for them build a heated wood cabin -- and for other necessities -- while living in the northern wilderness.

Kindred Spirits and Happy Souls
A teetotaller since 2008, who doesn’t do street drugs, Calvin is always cheerful, no matter how lousy the weather. And it’s been bitterly cold in Vancouver lately. But that doesn’t seem to bother Braveheart too much. He still enjoys meeting friendly passers-by. 

When Calvin isn’t panning or prospecting for gold in the Yukon eight months of the year, he spends the winter in Vancouver or Victoria. 

Panning for alluvial gold in the Yukon isn’t a lucrative business. Calvin makes about two or three thousand dollars a season with the gold flakes and few nuggets that he coaxes out of creeks near stream beds. But that barely covers living expenses. 

By the time he gets back to city life, he’s often broke. So he’s used to sleeping rough under a downtown bridge. Together, he and Braveheart have survived for the last three winters this way.

“It’s hard to get work this time of year in the city because I can’t leave Braveheart. He whines if I’m gone for more than 30 minutes,” he says. “Which means I can’t leave him with anyone. He’ll drive them crazy.

“So we just tough it out as best as we can. It ain’t so bad.”  

After all, Calvin has the company of his best friend 24 hours a day. It all started on Christmas Day, 2011. Which was when Calvin witnessed Braveheart being born while he was staying with a friend. And it wasn’t long before Calvin bonded with the tiny runt in a litter of four. He soon became his new “dad”.  

“I named him Braveheart because of how he had to wrestle with his much bigger brothers to be able to suckle from his mother. He was courageous from the very start.”

But little Braveheart had to live up to his name one fateful morning in 2013. That was when one of his front legs was crushed when a freight truck swerved over the verge of a road, nearly hitting Calvin, too. 

“Braveheart stopped breathing. The colour just drained from his eyes, which completely glazed over. And his mouth and nostrils filled up with blood.

“So I got on my knees and had to suck the blood out of his nostrils to help get him breathing again. It was such a huge, huge relief when he did. 

“Then he came-to and started whimpering. That’s when I saw the life coming back into his eyes... As I cradled him, I knew he wasn’t gonna quit on me.”       

Braveheart’s leg was amputated in August, 2013. He spent five months recuperating with family members in Manitoba. 

But when Calvin returned from his travels, Braveheart was back to his old self. And by then, he had learned to cope pretty well with only three legs. So he and Calvin returned to their wandering lifestyle.      

And they’ve been together ever since. 

Now they’re hoping to return to the Yukon so Calvin can prospect for gold again. A “Go Fund Me” campaign to raise $4,800 for Calvin and Braveheart will pay for the building of a heated wood cabin and other necessities for living in the northern wilderness.

Calvin and Braveheart appreciate any donations -- no matter how small -- to help them get back on their feet again.