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Flattening COVID-19 one kilometre at a time

Remember back in March when we all got sent home? Home for work, maybe school, thrown into lots of family or solo time. It was still winter. The news was a blizzard of cases, ventilators, deaths, and predictions of how bad this was and was certain to get.

I was diagnosed almost 22 years ago yet I’m still extra vulnerable to COVID-19 due to “significant modulations to your immune system and significant lung issues in the past.” I started to walk to clear my head and get some air. The snow and ice eventually melted and I changed gears from my Salomon hiking boots to my 1990 Bauer 2000 skate boots with my 1996 rollerblade chassis. I hit the streets every dry morning.

Rollerblading gave me a way to nurture my lungs and mind amidst the growing uncertainty for YACC and all us.

Connection and community is important for all of us humans, even more so when you’re a young adult fighting for your life after a cancer diagnosis. While the rest of the world gets some insight into health vulnerability from a random virus that can kill you, young adults with cancer have been pushed deeper into isolation while the threats and challenges of cancer remain constant.

Chemo doesn’t stop. Now you have to go it alone, no visitors, not even your kids can see you, alone with your thoughts as the poison drips in at 46 ml/hour. The scans continue. The paralyzing fear of recurrence thrives in isolation. Peer support is the antidote to keep it in the hallway outside your room.

YACC’s mission has never been more important. More than ever young adults need a community to peers who “get it.” In its simplest form, our work is about bringing them together and keeping them connected. We need your help more than ever.

So, inspired by my rekindled love for rollerblading, we are pumped and ready to roll out Roller Brave! There are about 8,000 kms from Victoria to St. John’s. There are 8,000 young adults diagnosed with cancer every year in Canada. We’re getting on our wheels for a cross-Canada, virtual, simultaneous relay aimed at raising funds to support YACC’s support programs.

Any wheel
Rollerblades, bikes (and the stationery bikes!), wheelchairs, scooters, skateboards, roller skates, strollers — if it rolls and is powered by heart, we want you to roll with us!

Any distance
Together we won’t stop until we reach St. John’s. You can roll 1 km, 100 kms or 1,000 kms; you choose, you roll. You can also set your own fundraising target and timeline. You choose, you roll, you change lives.

Anywhere
Your neighbourhood, your favourite park, you can Roller Brave anywhere.

We start tracking kilometres from on August 1 and we roll until we “reach” the other side of the country.

Hit rollerbrave.ca to join the movement.

Always…
Live life. Love life.

Geoff

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