It all be on foot from Prince George to Vancouver for a man who hopes to raise funds so his spouse can receive stem cell treatment for MS.
Shannon Dickson shares with us how Tim Michalchuk , who will be beginning his 1 million step journey today, has been preparing.
“Every night after a full day of work, he comes home and has dinner and then he hits the road, and starts walking up and down our highway. He was averaging approximately 10 kilometers everyday and that was after he tucked our kids in and read them a chapter from the Animorph books.”
Shannon says she experienced a massive relapse at Christmas following a vehicle accident and has lost the use of her left arm.
She says any funds raised will be used for stem-cell treatment which although cannot cure the disease, will help it from progressing.
“Right now at Christmas time we were looking at should we be buying a wheelchair. Since then I am up and moving again and that; but I have days I get up in the morning and that’s it- I get on the couch and it’s a couch day. I spend the entire day sitting there because my balance is that bad and the heaviness in my legs is so bad, I can’t walk anywhere.”
Shannon says although she had an application in to Ottawa for the treatment she has not qualified because she has not failed on enough disease modifying drugs.
She has now applied for the stem-cell treatment to treat her MS in Chicago and the United Kingdom and estimates that it could cost around $60,000 to $70,000.
Her spouse Tim hopes to be coming through Williams Lake on or between the April 7th or 9th.
The family has setup a Go Fund Me account.