Quebec man rolling through 5 provinces in his wheelchair to raise funds for ALS

A Quebec man is rolling across Canada to raise money for the battle against Lou Gehrig’s disease, or ALS.

Yannik Richard is now at the halfway mark of his his journey, which he says is sometimes a bumpy ride.

On Sept. 22, Richard began his trek east from British Columbia using secondary roads in his motorized wheelchair.

“I average 100 kilometres a day, 125 or so. It’s really, really hard for me. I’m on the road five or six hours a day, and it’s hard on my hands because I have to steer the wheelchair,” he says.

Richard is followed by a donated RV, making stops at ALS support centres and hearing people’s stories detailing family members battling the disease.

He recalls when a driver pulled a lengthy U-turn just to meet him.

“He saw the RV in the road and it did ten kilometres just to find us and to make a donation,” Richard says.

Richard himself was blindsided by a diagnosis just over two years ago. Soon after, he started planning this five-province marathon to build awareness and raise funds.

His family and friends are helping along the way.

Claudine Cook, executive director of ALS Quebec, says it’s also about community.

“His friends, his childhood friends, his neighbours and close friends, everybody is helping him. They’re taking turns to be with him every week of his journey,” she explains.

Richard’s daily updates on social media are gaining traction.

His friend and project manager for “La Grande Traversée” is Marie-Andree Tremblay.

“We are happy that Yannik has success to reach more and more people on the road,” she says.

But rolling on 4,500 kilometres is no easy feat and comes with a fair share of challenges.

On day 18 of the 35-day trek, the RV broke down in Northern Ontario.

A local garage came to the rescue and got Richard back on the road quickly.

Cook says Richard is on a roll.

“He plows forward and he finds solutions and nothing is stopping him to reach his goal, to make it across Canada in his in his wheelchair,” she says.

It’s also getting colder, and Richard says he feels like he’s doing his own kind of ALS ice-bucket challenge.

Yet, he’s still on track to arrive in his hometown of Prevost near St-Sauveur on Oct. 25, where a big party is planned.

“For the families, it will be fun with a food truck, pizza, Micro-Brasserie Shawbridge, Agga cafe will be there,” says Tremblay.

Richard still hopes more people will find him on social media and donate so that one day ALS will be in the rear-view mirror.