Hundreds of people are gearing up to take on three days of walking in support of kidney disease awareness.
The Kidney Foundation of Canada hosts its annual Kidney March from Sept. 8 to Sept. 10, beginning with an opening ceremony at the Millarville Race Track and ending 100 kilometres later at Winsport at Calgary Olympic Park.
Okotoks resident Lesley Aquin and her daughter, Ann Marie Dewar, are participating this year in honour of Aquin’s father, who passed away from kidney failure in 2013.
“The fact that I’m doing it with my daughter makes a big difference,” said Aquin. “We’re a pretty close family and when [my dad] died it was pretty hard on everybody, so doing something with her means a lot.”
Her father, who lived in Ontario, lived with Type II diabetes for years. He managed his condition well, but never saw a kidney specialist, she said.
By the time it was suggested to him to see a urologist, it was too late, she said. He was on dialysis for three years before his body shut down and he passed away.
“His kidney disease was secondary,” said Aquin. “Diabetes was the first thing in line and the kidney failure was secondary to that.”
She said two of his three brothers also had diabetes, but neither of them had kidney issues. The rest of the family has been checked and continues to watch for signs of disease, but nobody else has been diagnosed, she said.
Aquin said she’s looking forward to doing the Kidney March in her father’s name. It’s the only event of its kind in Canada, and they will be surrounded by people from all over the country as they march and sleep in tents for three days.
It’s a huge undertaking, and she said she’s getting a little nervous.
“I am a little worried, because it’s a long way to walk,” said Aquin. “I don’t think I’m as prepared as I wanted to be, but I think I’ll be okay.”
Each participant in the march is expected to raise a minimum of $2,200 in donations, which she is still working on achieving. So far, she has brought in around $1,600, she said.
“It’s hard asking for money,” said Aquin. “I know we both have to put a push on this week to get the rest of our funds.”
Dewar said she’s raised about $1,000 so far, so she’ll be reaching out to anyone she can think of this week to raise the rest of her donation before Friday.
It was her idea to enter into the Kidney March with her mother. She’d wanted to take it on in her grandfather’s honour last year, but had to return to Saskatoon for her last year of university.
When she graduated in May, she and her mother decided they would register for 2017.
“I love doing things with my mom – we play tennis together, we do other stuff, so I thought this was something we could do together,” said Dewar.
Though they’ll be walking upwards of 30 kilometres a day, Dewar said she’s not worried about Friday or Sunday’s walks. It’s Saturday that has her sweating.
“I think the second day will be the hardest, just being completely exhausted but then knowing the next day you still have to do more,” she said. “On the last day you’ll be excited, you’re almost there. But the middle day, I’m worried about that one.”
The Kidney March is designed to be difficult, said Joyce Van Deurzen, executive director of the southern Alberta chapter of the Kidney Foundation of Canada. The March was her idea in 2010.
“We knew we needed to do something big to put kidney disease and organ donation on the map in a big way,” said Van Deurzen. “We needed to ask the kidney community to do the most they could possible do for this – raising the most money they’ve ever raised and walking the most they’ve ever walked.”
She said people have rallied around the event in a huge way, and in six years it raised close to $5 million. They’re hoping to add another $650,000 to $700,000 this year.
So far, the top individual fundraiser has brought in more than $18,000, and some teams have put together upwards of $40,000, for a total to-date of close to $475,000.
It all goes toward research and awareness for kidney disease and organ donation, said Van Deurzen.
“Research, that’s the source of all improvements, treatments, prevention, and hopefully a cure,” said Van Deurzen. “We’re becoming more hopeful that in the future a cure may be possible, that it may be possible to reverse kidney damage.”
In the meantime, it’s vital to educate people on organ donation and have Canadians sign up to be donors, she said. Close to 76 per cent of people on the waiting list for organ transplant in Canada are waiting for a kidney, she said.
“The demand is increasing for the number of kidneys that are needed by people, and the waiting list grows,” said Van Deurzen. “We’ve got to do something about that, get the word out, raise money, help people.”
She said the Kidney March is a big deal because it’s the longest charity walk there is, which is meant to represent the seriousness of kidney disease and organ donation.
Close to 300 people come together to walk each year, she said. A large crew of volunteers also comes out for the weekend to look after the marchers, set up camp and prepare snacks and meals, she said.
“It’s a big commitment for everybody,” said Van Deurzen.
Anyone interested in taking on the Kidney March next year can sign up starting Sept. 8. For more information visit www.kidneymarch.ca.
