Ukrainian man with cerebral palsy walking from Calgary to Banff to raise money for hospitals

A Ukrainian man with cerebral palsy left downtown Calgary on foot, with the intention of walking to Banff to raise money for hospitals.

Oleksandr Kyianytsia, born with cerebral palsy, lives in Montreal but is originally from Ukraine.

He’s set off on a journey called Gift of Walking with a goal of raising money for Ukrainian hospitals impacted by the war with Russia.

He leaves Calgary on July 3 and will pass through Cochrane, Bragg Creek and Canmore on his way to the mountain resort town of Banff.

“It will be very challenging, but I am very happy to do it because it was my dream to go through the Rockies,” said Kyianytsia.

“I began to think, ‘How can I help?’ and I had this idea to do a walk to help (raise money for) Ukraine to buy medical equipment.”

This is Kyianytsia’s third walk for Ukrainian hospitals.

In 2023, he completed walks from Montreal to Ottawa and Toronto to Niagara Falls, totalling more than 330 kilometres and raising $32,000.

This latest journey will take him close to 20 days and 200 kilometres and he’d like to raise $20,000.

“He will change five or six pairs of shoes because he’s dragging his foot, and then the shoes get damaged and tear,” said Roman Yosyfiv, Calgary president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.

“So we bought him a couple shoes and then he’s going to change them all the time because this is how difficult this is for him.”

Before the walk began, the community held a rally at Municipal Plaza, where Mayor Jyoti Gondek signed a pair for Kyianytsia.

“I think this hospital, when he was back in Ukraine, this hospital helped him a little bit, and now he wants to give something back,” said Yosyfiv.

“They’re fighting for independence, just to be Ukraine, and Ukraine compared to Russia is a small country, and without our support, I don’t know where it’s going to end up.”

This campaign is supported by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Calgary Branch, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Bow Valley Branch and the Ukrainian Association in Cochrane.

Anna Tselukhina is on the organizing committee for Gift of Walking and says more than 30 people have signed up to help Kyianytsia on his journey.

“Officially, I am co-ordinator of volunteers who will be feeding and taking care of (him) during his walk,” she said.

“Maybe walking with him during the different parts.

“It’s three different teams that joined together to make this event happen.”

Tselukhina says Kyianytsia isn’t very good at walking with his cerebral palsy and falls regularly.

“That is what he told us: ‘I’m falling down, but I stand up and I keep walking’ because he has such a great heart for Ukraine,” she said.

“This is the example of a Ukrainian who doesn’t want to give up no matter what’s happened, no matter what kind of obstacles he has. I think this is a great example to all of us (and) we should learn from him.”

You can learn more about the walk by clicking here.