It’s about raising awareness and money for a disease that many know little about.
Tsawwassen’s Lindsay McCallum and her family know the battle against multiple sclerosis all too well. This incurable and degenerative enemy sees more than 100,000 diagnoses every year with one in two Canadians personally affected by this mysterious and debilitating disease.
McCallum was so young when her father was diagnosed that she has no memory of him being able to walk without a limp. Challenged by frustration, fear and sheer determination, she took the steps her father could no longer take by standing up and taking action to end MS.
In 2012, McCallum’s Miles for MS took its first strides towards raising $30,000 to help those suffering with the disease and to fund the research, prevention, treatment and ultimately a cure. Sadly, after only six years, and having already raised more than $28,000 towards her target, her father Victor lost his battle on March 17, 2018.
She and her family vowed to continue to honour her father’s legacy by organizing their seventh walk through her residential neighbourhood of Tsawwassen on Sunday, June 23.
“The main thing is to raise awareness. Delta has never really had a locally-organized run like this,” she said. “In the past we have really done this with family and friends, but now we want this to be a full community event. Unless you are aware of MS and it affects your family directly, not a lot of people know what it is.”
“I was just at Cliff Drive along with another MS volunteer and spoke with the students. We talked about the walk and about MS and one of the women there had MS,” said McCallum. “Afterwards she thanked me for the presentation. That one person made the presentation worth it. My goal is to make this an annual community walk so that we can extend the support and extend the awareness around it.”
The five-kilometre, kid-friendly walk starts at 9 a.m. with the route beginning and ending at Cliff Drive Elementary. For more information call 604-760-5416 or register to walk under the “Delta MS Walk.”
