For the past eight years, Marcel Lafontaine has participated in annual MS Bike events in Ottawa to raise funds for research and programs to help people affected by multiple sclerosis.
Lafontaine – of St. Albert, Ontario, situated 48 kilometres southeast of Ottawa – has ramped up his efforts considerably and is now cycling across Canada to raise funds in the battle against the debilitating disease.
After losing a family member, he is all too familiar with MS.
“My aunt was taken by the disease. I have a cousin currently living with it, as well as my eldest son's mother-in-law,” Lafontaine said in a phone interview with SooToday.
Lafontaine began his cross-Canada bicycle journey in Victoria, British Columbia on May 11 and hopes to reach St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador by the first week of August.
He continued his trek by cycling from Havilland Bay on Friday morning and hoped to reach the Sault by tonight.
“I already have a family connection to MS but Jonathan Allenger, our keynote speaker at our annual ride in Ottawa, made an appearance on TV and he kept asking the rhetorical question ‘what more can I do?’ That struck a chord with me.
"I asked myself that very same question, ‘what more can I do?’ That's what led me to what I'm doing right now,” Lafontaine said.
An Ottawa-based RCMP civilian employee, Lafontaine took a four-month unpaid leave from his job to cycle across Canada, accompanied by his wife travelling behind him in an RV.
Lafontaine said he has received a lot of support from honking motorists passing by on Canada's highways.
“Everywhere we stop, people will come up to us and ask what exactly we're doing . . . because one of the things that my wife and I did was to make sure that we're visible. Our RV is emblazoned with my Coast to Coast for MS logo.”
MS is a disease that affects the central nervous system, including the brain and spinal cord.
The cause of MS is unknown.
Sixty per cent of people diagnosed with MS are between the ages of 20 and 49 years old. Younger children and older adults can also be diagnosed with the disease.
The illness is progressive and can be fatal but treatments have allowed people with MS to live longer lifespans.
There is no cure for MS but it's vital to raise awareness of the need to find treatments that could slow progression of the disease and even repair nerve damage, Lafontaine said.
“According to MS Canada, over 90,000 Canadians live with it today. MS is more common than many people realize.
"On average, 12 Canadians are diagnosed with MS every day. A lot of people don't realize that it's such a problem," he said.
For whatever reason Canada is disproportionately affected by MS, more specifically in northern Saskatchewan and Alberta than the rest of the country and nobody's quite sure why. There are a lot of questions but not many answers.
“My hope is to provide hope to Canadians living with MS, as well as their family and friends," Lafontaine said.
As of today, he has raised $20,250 toward his goal of $100,000 in his Coast to Coast for MS fundraiser.
More information on Lafontaine and his fundraising efforts can be found online.