A man whose father died of lung cancer has undertaken a marathon walk beginning in Alberta and arrives in North Bay on Wednesday.
Jimmy Lefebvre arrives at the Husky Truck Stop on Highway 11 North at 9:00am.
Lefebvre left his home in Grand Prairie, Alberta on May 1st and has been walking eight to 10 hours a day to raise money and awareness for cancer research.
Lefebvre’s father died of lung cancer two years ago this month and decided to walk from his home to near Tignish, P.E.I. where his dad is buried.
His family follows behind him in a motorhome.
Lefebvre admits the walk has been tough, but not because of the pain in his legs and feet, but rather because of the mental toll it takes.
“Getting up early every day, putting shoes on and getting out the door to continue the walk is the biggest challenge,” Lefebvre says.
And he admits there are times it would have been easy to give up and asks himself what he got himself into.
“But I have my family with me and want to set a good example for them,” he said.
Lefebvre also says while the walk has been tough on his legs and it’s been painful at times, the pain is normally gone by the next day after a night’s sleep.
He says that’s tolerable because the pain some cancer patients experience is always there.
He says this group is not as fortunate and it’s another reason why he doesn’t give up.
Lefebvre is self-employed and has employees looking after his business interests while he’s walking toward the Maritimes.
He expects to arrive at his father’s graveside by August 31st.
So far he’s raised $30,000 a far cry of the millions he’d like to raise.
However he’s not disappointed and believes as he gets closer to his destination, awareness will pick-up and more people will give to the cause.
When Lefebvre arrives in North Bay at the Husky, he’s inviting residents to join him for a brief walk as he continues on along Highway 17.