Many people fundraise for various causes, but few do it with the same passion and commitment as Lindsay McCallum.
McCallum is in the midst of fundraising for her second Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Walk and she does it all for her father, Victor George Ross, who has been living with MS for the past 29 years.
Ross was diagnosed with MS when McCallum was just six years old. It is the most common neurological disease of young adults in Canada, with most people being diagnosed in the prime of their life.
By the time I actually noticed, he always had a limp, so I always kind of knew he wasnt like regular dads, said McCallum, a life-long Richmond resident. I dont remember seeing him ever properly walk.
McCallum decided to form a team for the MS Walk last year after her father had a brief brush with death in 2011.
He was checked into the hospital with a bad cold, but things escalated quickly.
He wasnt feeling well and he knows when he has to go in (to the hospital) so we put him in, said McCallum. And then about three days after hes in, he gets pneumonia, so his lungs fill up with fluid and then hes rushed into the ICU at like 4 a.m. on a Saturday.
When I went in there I was like oh my God, who is this, he was not recognizable when I went in.
Things were so bad that Ross actually requested a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) in the worst-case scenario. He was placed on life support for five days but eventually fought through it.
It was quite a scare for us, because weve always seen him kind of in and out of hospitals but he was not the same, said McCallum.
It was pretty much a huge hit to us that, okay, hes actually gotten a lot worse, we need to do something about this.
With that, she decided to get a team together for the annual MS Walk at Gary Point. The team consists of a few family members and a lot of close friends.
Together, they raised $3,600 last year, and they are looking to bring in even more this year.
McCallum knows first hand what that money can do for people living with MS.
The wheelchair that my dad uses is actually from the MS society, which means in turn the money weve collected has then gone back to him, said McCallum with a smile.
For him to get the assistance from the MS Society just shows that it actually does work, your moneys going towards people who are actually living with it.
The walk is on April 14 at Garry Point Park with check-ins at 8 a.m. and a start time of 10 a.m. There is a two-kilometre and four-kilometre route that lead walkers on a tour around the kite field. It is accessible to everyone.
If you are interested in donating to McCallums cause, visit http://bit.ly/11PYJwK.
