Yukon man's Cycle to Walk cross-country tour earns friendly welcome in Upper St. John River Valley

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By Jacques-François Levesque and Jim Dumville

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A young Yukon man on a quest to eradicate polio found plenty of support on his journey through the Upper St. John River Valley last weekend.

As they hit New Brunswick to begin the final leg of the coast-to-coast trek, Remesh Ferris and his Cycle to Walk team discovered many welcoming arms along the Upper Valley.

The team spent some comfortable down time in Florenceville-Bristol, courtesy of Pam Brennan, who put the team up at her Shamrock Suites bed and breakfast. They also enjoyed some fine dining during their Carleton County stay courtesy of Steve and Margaurite Appleby.

"The Applebys fed us well," said Christopher Madden, the Cycle to Walk community liaison.

A highlight for Ferris and his team during their Carleton County stopover was a luncheon at Potato World and a tour of the New Brunswick Potato Museum. McCain Foods Ltd. board chairman Allison McCain was on hand at the luncheon to hear Ferris offer a Power Point presentation about his personal battle with polio; the efforts to eradicate the disease; and the goal of the cross-country tour.

Before arriving in Carleton County, the Cycle to Walk team also discovered plenty of support in Grand Falls and Perth-Andover. Rotary Clubs in both communities provided funds, accommodations and support to Ferris and his team.

Ferris noted the fight to eradicate polio is one of the major causes for Rotary International. He noted Rotary is a key partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which also includes such groups as UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

While many Canadians believe polio has already been eradicated, said Ferris, it still remains too prevalent in countries around the world. That's despite an available vaccine to prevent it.

Since its formation in 1988, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative has spent $4 billion towards its goal.

"If we give up now that money will be wasted," said Ferris, during a conversation with the Bugle-Observer at the end of his Potato World tour.

The 28-year-old polio survivor wants to see eradication happen. That's the focus of the cross-country trip in which he is hand pedalling his specially designed bike from coast to coast.

On April 12, Ferris set off from Mile 0 in Victoria, B.C. en route to Cape Spear in Newfoundland and Labrador. He hopes to conclude the journey in late September or early October, averaging 75 km per day.

While Cape Spear will mark the end the Cycle to Walk journey, Ferris said, the journey to eradicate polio will go on.

"We will have to continue to work after Cape Spear," he said. "This is not about individual accomplishment, it's about eradicating polio."

Many Canadians are surprised to hear polio is still prevalent in many countries, noted Ferris. He added that the danger still exists in this country because some people are not getting vaccinated against the disease. He said some estimates say 11 per cent of Canadians have not received the polio vaccination.

"We as a country need to send a message," said Ferris.

Ferris departed on his hand-cycle with a four-member road team in a motorhome and SUV pulling a trailer, and with a lot of hope and enthusiasm that the Cycle to Walk campaign could bring attention to the devastating affects of polio.

"Smallpox was eradicated in 1979 and polio could be next," stated Ferris, while his Cycle to Walk campaign made a stopover in the Grand Falls area last Wednesday, Aug. 27. "We have all the tools we need to finish this job. Polio levels are down 99 per cent worldwide, but we need to give it one final push.

"Many Canadians think that polio is no longer a threat, but it is only a plane ride away," Ferris said.

Cycle to Walk is promoting the World Health Organization (WHO) message that "A country is not polio free until the world is polio free."

During the group's Grand Falls stay, Rotary Club president Conrad Toner and his wife Linda provided overnight accommodation at their home. The next morning, the group was invited by the Rotary Club's past president, Francine Kanhai and her husband Errol, to have breakfast at their restaurant in St. André.

In Perth-Andover, the Rotarians hosted Ferris and invited guests from other service clubs and health-care organizations to hear his story and learn about the devastating effects of polio.

Ferris contracted polio in India when he was six months old, and was placed in an orphanage when his birth mother could no longer look after him. Polio left his legs paralyzed. After being adopted to Canada by an Anglican bishop and his wife in Whitehorse, Ferris received the surgeries and rehabilitative support which allowed him to walk with braces and a cane.

But Ferris has gone far beyond walking. He has become one of Yukon's elite athletes. He swims 100 laps of the Canada Games pool at a time, plays wheelchair basketball and hand-cycles in competitive races, though his passion has become endurance cycling.

Following a visit to India to meet his birth mother and to visit the orphanage from which he was adopted, Ferris felt the need to help with the world-wide eradication of polio, and the rehabilitation of polio victims in poor countries.

"I decided to hand-cycle across Canada in order to raise awareness about the disease and to raise funds for polio eradication and rehabilitation," he explained.

He noted 75 per cent of the funds raised through Cycle to Walk. will be donated to Rotary International's PolioPlus.

"Twenty per cent of the money raised will go towards providing rehabilitative support to polio survivors; the society will disseminate the funds to various identified charities for this purpose," Ferris added. "The remaining five per cent is to go to educating Canadians about polio and the need for parents to continue to vaccinate their children. For any parent who is questioning whether or not to vaccinate their children, they need only to look at my legs and look at my experience and to know that this is happening to children all over the world and that it's not needed."

Ferris stressed WHO predicts an additional 10 million children will be paralyzed over the next 40 years without the continuation of the polio eradication program.

"I'm on this hand-cycle because I don't want to see any child in this world live with the effects of this disease which is completely preventable through vaccination which costs 60 cents a dose. Three doses protects a child for life. I'm disturbed by the fact that we've had the polio vaccination for over 53 years yet 11 per cent or just over 3.5 million Canadians are not vaccinated against polio, putting our country at risk of future polio outbreaks!"

Cycle to Walk has raised over a quarter-million dollars to date. The campaign aims to raise $1 million before reaching Cape Spear next month. Progress can be monitored on the Cycle to Walk Web site www.cycyletowalk.com.