A Visit From Tim's Shoe

 

      This week our special visitor arrived Tim’s Shoe. watch video .  I mentioned in an earlier post how the red carpets were out and the evidence was all over town, well I think this really because it is Canada Day (more pictures) and the fact that Kate Middleton and Prince William are going to be town also.  

      We wanted Tim’s Shoe to be part of this! This is a Nike running shoe that travels the world by request to raise awareness for MSA. What a marathon he has to accomplish.  

      So us and 300,000 other people went down to the celebrations. We were in front off the big monitors so we could see what was going on but it was getting extremely hot, 32 Celsius. Oh, I forgot to mention another symptom of  MSA is you do not sweat, therefore your body cannot cool itself off.  We knew we had to get to the shade. We tried to get out but got caught up in a mob of people. I was so glad my Hunny was there because I would have passed out of been trampled by the amount of people.  It was pretty scary!

     When we left there we walked over to the Supreme Court of Canada to get a picture of Claude and Tim’s Shoe.  We explained all about the shoe and its purpose. Our friend was very saddened. He used to be our neighbor so he would always see me out running and now to see  that it was getting hard for me to walk, he was in shock.

       
We then took Tim to Scotiabank Place where it many of stars had performed and many professional sports played. 

                                                       

      We also got a picture by Terry Fox Drive. Terry is world known he was a young Canadian who was diagnosed with bone cancer at 18 and in 1980 announced he would run across Canada to raise funds and awareness for cancer research, called The Marathon of Hope. So I felt it is still a Marathon of Hope to raise awareness and funds for research for MSA, that is why it is important to get a picture there.

     Another stop was to take Tim's Shoe to  have his picture at the world famous Rideau Canal which in the winter becomes the longest skate way in the world, 7.8 kilometers long.

We also took Tim’s Shoe to have poutine at the fromagerie in St. Albert. As far as we are concerned it is the best and just melts in your mouth. This is a French-Canadian dish of French fries, gravy and cheese curds. Yummy! 

      We rented a limo and are going to see all the hot spots around town including the Mayor Jim Watson’s office and then going to dinner.  We also learned this week that there are five people that  we know of in Ottawa with MSA.




 They are Karen Olson (she requested Tim's Shoe to Canada)
has had MSA for about 8 years. She now cannot take care of herself so is in a facility.









Deborah Pursey had MSA for about 3 years. She is a retired Registered Nurse. Lives at home with her husband.
                                   

Adrien Dawoodjee has had MSA for three years.  She was a Project Manager for Lumenera Corp., Ottawa, Ontario. Adrien also lives at home with family.   

   

  Art wade has had MSA 5 years.  Art is Colonel (Ret'd) Arthur C. Wade. He graduated from the Royal Military College in 1956, and served with distinction for many years in the Canadian Army as a member of the Royal Canadian Engineers.

Can no longer take care of himself so is in a facility.

  




and myself Brenda Paquet has had MSA 1 year.  Retired from Business Administration. I live at home with my husband. 

 For something so rare makes a person wonder….

      

We took Tim’s Shoe and explained its significance to Mayor Jim Watson and of course got pictures. Mr. Watson congratulated us on our work of bringing awareness to him and others.


      

      We then took the Tim's Shoe all over town, to the Centennial Flame,  which was first lit in 1967. According to Wikipedia, the Centennial Flame is encompassed by a fountain into which many visitors to Parliament Hill throw coins for luck. That change is gathered, washed, dried and sorted by maintenance before it is put into a government bank account.  From there the money is given to the winner of the Centennial Flame Research Award. The award, which was begun in 2005, is given “to a person with a disability to enable him or her to conduct research and prepare a report on the contributions of one or more Canadians with disabilities to the public life of Canada or the activities of Parliament”.

   


      At the end of the night we all went to have dinner to celebrate a successful trip and awareness campaign, a big than you Tim’s Shoe! More Photos