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
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.