Vaughan
December 27, 2007 07:39 PM
By: Caroline Grech
To be diagnosed with a disease can be a dark time, but for some exceptional people, such as Vaughan resident Robert Bertolas, it changed his life for the better.
Rather than just sit back and feel bad, having been told he has Multiple Sclerosis, the 39-year-old whipped himself into shape and started running.
Mr. Bertolas ran so much he decided to enter a few marathons.
While running marathons became a personal victory for Mr. Bertolas, it was through his motivational speaking that he met many people suffering from MS much worse off than him, and was moved to embark on a cross-country journey to raise funds for research and awareness.
“I’ve got to do something. I want to make an impact,” Mr. Bertolas said before the trip.
The journey saw him bike, run and inline skate more than 10,000 kilometres across the country while colleague Suzanne Couchman drove beside him.
Starting March 3 in Victoria B.C. and finishing by diving into the Atlantic Ocean in St. John’s, Newfoundland Nov. 18, Mr. Bertolas completed the trek and managed to raise nearly $20,000.
While Mr. Bertolas was hoping to raise more, he was pleased with the trip.
“I think I was happy with the motivation I could offer. When it came to money, we didn’t come anywhere as close as we wanted,” Mr. Bertolas said.
In contrast to his disappointment in the fundraising, Mr. Bertolas had various reminders of the importance of the trip and the cause.
In one instance he described, an 11-year-old boy named Morgan with cerebral palsy asked Mr. Bertolas to go fishing and so they did. It was a welcome detour from his tour, he said.
“You know why you’re doing what you’re doing (during these moments),” he said. “What I did was step out of the life I live.”
The money raised through the cross country trek will go to fund the Myelin Project, which is an international research organization aimed at accelerating clinical and translational research focused on Myelin repair.
MS is a disease that effects the central nervous system. The exact cause is not known, but it is believed to be caused by damage to the myelin sheathe, which is the protective material surrounding nerve cells.
Visit www.crossingbridges.com to donate.
Donations should be payable to the Myelin Project.