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Tsawwassen woman headed to Spain to start fundraising walk

Tsawwassen's Dawn Repin is about to embark on a journey of hope, healing and fundraising. She leaves for Spain tomorrow and starting Sept. 20, will walk an average of 20 kilometres a day to finish the last 100 kilometres of the Camino de Santiago.
repin
Dawn Repin

Tsawwassen's Dawn Repin is about to embark on a journey of hope, healing and fundraising. She leaves for Spain tomorrow and starting Sept. 20, will walk an average of 20 kilometres a day to finish the last 100 kilometres of the Camino de Santiago.

The walk is in remembrance of her husband Peter who died last October, five years after being diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

Dawn said following his diagnosis, the condition progressed slowly at first, limiting his daily activities.

"The last two years of Peter's life, he required ever increasing amounts of oxygen, eventually becoming completely dependent on it to remain alive," Dawn said. "It was a struggle he handled with such grace."

The couple has called Tsawwassen home since 1974.

Peter worked in the planning department at the Corporation of Delta from 1972 until his retirement in 1999. He was a well-known, active member of the community, coaching hockey and baseball in the 1980s. He was also a participant in the Little House Society.

Dawn is hoping the walk and subsequent fundraiser will help raise awareness of the Canadian Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (CPFF), the disease, of which there is no known cure, and will be a healing journey as she continues to morn the loss of her partner of 52 years.

"I see the walk as an opportunity to continue working though my grief, reflect on my life and adjust to a new chapter without Peter's physical presence," Dawn said. "I'll be taking a flat stone from Tsawwassen Beach engraved 'Grandpa.' Peter was aware a few weeks before he died that there would be a grandchild in our family. That is comforting."

Dawn has been training by trying to walk at least two hours every day with a daypack holding the items she expects to carry on the journey. She has also been practicing using walking poles.

"Throughout my training, I have been learning so much more about the community and appreciating and getting ideas for garden plants, experiencing getting lost and discovering new roads and cul de sacs," she said. "An unexpected bonus of the walking is greeting and talking to people. Everyone is so friendly and helpful. I'm fortunate to be relatively fit for my age. I recently turned 76."

All of the money she raises will go to support the CPFF.

CPFF provides funds for research into causes and treatments.

To make a donation, visit www.cpff.ca and look for Dawn's Walk.