Ziyada Callender arrived at The Ottawa Hospital’s Cancer Centre on Friday after walking nearly 240 kilometres from her hometown of Montreal to raise money for cancer research. For Callender, the final steps were emotional. “I made it,” she said as she reached the finish line, surrounded by supporters. The long walk was more than a physical challenge. For Callender, it was a personal thank you to the doctors and healthcare workers who helped give her a second chance at life. “I am so grateful to have a second chance at life,” she says. “And for people who are going through their cancer battles and still going through and living life and going to work and doing all the things that they do, I’m so in awe. I’ve realized just how hard it is, and those are my heroes; those are the people I think about.” Callender, who grew up in Montreal and moved to Ottawa more than 20 years ago to pursue a career in television news and had always considered herself healthy and active. Callender is a Bell Media employee and the news operations manager at CTV News Ottawa. In 2023, her life changed. She had been experiencing fatigue, back and stomach pain and eventually noticed blood in her stool. Callender trusted her instincts and asked for a colonoscopy. The procedure found a polyp in her colon. Testing revealed Stage 1 colorectal cancer. In June 2023, Callender underwent surgery to remove part of her colon and 33 nearby lymph nodes. Then came another setback. During follow-up imaging, doctors noticed a tiny spot on her lung. Testing confirmed the cancer had spread to her lung, and Callender says the second diagnosis was a hit to her hope. “Like, you give everything to that first time and then it’s like, oh my gosh, I’m at the bottom of another mountain I got to climb,” Callender says. The diagnosis was particularly frightening because of her young son. “I thought about my son,” she said. “I have a young son, and I didn’t want him to grow up without me.” Callender said she wanted to be there to make memories with him, watch him reach his milestones and see him live his life. Her husband, Steve Dash, said the two cancer diagnoses were difficult for the entire family. “She never gave up,” he said. “She’s a tremendous person. She’s easy to draw the inspiration out of everybody and people look up to her, and just have the most respect and admiration for what she’s doing. And I knew she had it in her. And she’s always the type of person that can do anything she puts her mind to, in her heart to,” Dash says. On Aug. 29, Callender began walking from Montreal to Ottawa, retracing a route that would take her back to the hospital where she received life-saving care. Along the way, she met people who donated to her fundraising campaign and shared their own connections to cancer. “People were really kind and they see me walking,” she says. “Then once I shared with them, then they talk about how cancer has touched their families, and it made me realize, my goodness, cancer touches so many people and affects so many people. This is why I’m doing it.” One person receiving treatment at the hospital even reached out to tell her they were following her journey. The walk was also a way to raise money for cancer research and encourage others to pay attention to changes in their bodies. Callender raised more than $13,800. At the finish line in Ottawa, the doctor who performed her surgery was waiting. Callender embraced Dr. Rebecca Auer and thanked her. “Thank you for saving my life,” she said. After nearly 240 kilometres, Callender was back where her journey through cancer had begun. And she says she would do it all again. “I would do it all again tomorrow if it means touching as many people’s lives and raising as much money for the hospital.”
