London, Ont. woman lifts her way to national championship in story of addiction, recovery and perseverance

April Hutchinson used powerlifting to lift her from her darkest place.

Her journey is now taking her to the Canadian Championships in May after dominating the field at the Central Region Championships. She’s the number one powerlifter for her age in the country.

“Powerlifting basically consists of three lifts,” says Hutchinson, a 45-year old City of London employee. “It is the squat, bench and deadlift. They take your best weight from three lifts and add them together for your score.”

She trains five nights per week, and will be considered a favourite to win the Masters category in St. John’s Nfld. in May.

This comes after lifting a total of 1,030 lbs at the Central Powerlifting Championships in November 2021.

“When we went to Central's there's no one really that could touch us,” says Stefan Perras, Hutchinson’s personal trainer, and coach.

“She won by a couple 100 points, and it’s going to be the same thing at nationals. She can compete with young girls in their twenties and thirties and she’s a natural at it”.

April Hutchinson, 45, of London, Ont. is spotted by trainer Stefan Perras during a bench press. Hutchinson is headed to the Canadian Powerlifting Championships in May 2022. (Brent Lale/CTV London)

But things haven’t always come easy for her.

“In September 2019, I was very sick,” says Hutchinson. “My doctor basically gave me one to two years to live, if I didn't change my lifestyle. I was addicted to alcohol I was drinking on a daily basis.”

She describes her doctor giving her a “death sentence” and she had to decide whether she wanted to live or die.

“The first thing I did was check myself into a treatment center for alcohol dependence and once I came out of there I literally started powerlifting the day after,” says Hutchinson.

Within a matter of a couple months, Perras realized her lifting numbers would qualify for her for provincials.

The City of London employee trains five nights a week, tries to sleep eight hours a day, and needs to eat a lot of calories for peak performance.

At her best she can bench 205 lbs, dead-lift 510 lbs, and squat 420 lbs. Anything even close to those numbers and she’ll cruise to a Canadian title. “That's my dream is to compete at the worlds,” says Hutchinson. “After that, I would love to do other competitions like the Pan Am Games or Commonwealth Games.”

Perras describes Hutchinson’s progress over the past three years as “amazing.”

“During the whole time, like I've actually gained a really good friend,” says Perras.

“April has become one of my best friends during this whole entire thing. So it's been amazing, and we're going to smash it.”