79-year-old completes walk from Calgary to Vancouver, raises over $500K for charity
With a group of supporters by his side, Gary Averbach received a hero’s welcome at Vancouver's Jack Poole Plaza Thursday, the final stop of his 1,100-kilometre journey.
The moment marked the end of Averbach’s 46-day walk from Calgary to Vancouver. The physical challenge is something he’s been wanting to accomplish for years, calling it part of his "before 80 bucket list."
“It makes me feel really humble,” said the 79-year-old.
The walk took on a deeper meaning, however, when his cousin and business partner Bob Golden made a special request to Averbach on his death bed.
“My dad took him by the hand and said: ‘I want you to walk for me, Gary, so this wretched disease doesn’t happen to somebody else,” said Adam Golden, Bob’s son. “It was obviously a very remarkable and touching moment.”
“His whole family was there,” said Averbach. “That’s how it started. That’s why it’s Bob’s Walk for Cancer.”
He took off in late June, battling hilly terrain, near-freezing temperatures in the Rockies, and scorching 40+ degree heat near Edmonton. He says he averaged around 25 kilometres a day, and still has plenty left in the tank.
“It’s amazing and it’s true. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” said Averbach. “I feel better and healthier today than when I started.”
Averbach also chose to use the walk as a way to honour three more friends and family members who died of cancer within the past year. With funds still coming in, Averbach estimates he’ll raise nearly $600,000 for the BC Cancer Foundation.
“It’s incredible what he’s achieved and I think it’s inspiring to so many people,” said Elissa Morissette of the BC Cancer Foundation. “Not just the dollars that were raised, but the awareness that he’s created in terms of the need to fund research.”
“It’s a wonderful feeling,” said Averbach.
Averbach says his next big bucket list items include a trip to West Africa and skydiving.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
Humanist group threatening to sue Vancouver over council prayers
The B.C. Humanist Association has threatened legal action against the City of Vancouver for allowing prayers at council, following a similar warning issued earlier this month to a smaller community on Vancouver Island.
LHSC performs a Canadian first in robot-assisted direct lateral spine surgery
Spine surgery may never be the same for people with chronic back pain and other physical ailments.