'The Amazing Race Canada' winner on bringing hope to others, 9 years after devastating diagnosis
Catherine Wreford Ledlow is no shrinking violet.
She studied with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, performed at the Stratford Festival, danced on the stage in Toronto, achieved her life’s dream of being on Broadway and tasted success in Los Angeles.
She and best friend Craig Ramsay even won Amazing Race Canada, beating out nine other teams in a gruelling competition. Not too shabby! A triple threat artist: dance, vocals, acting. Catherine’s motto, she will tell you, is, “I can do that.”
Catherine and Craig were crowned champions of 'The Amazing Race Canada' in 2022. Their participation in the show came almost a decade after Catherine was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and had two to six years to live (Photo: CTV The Amazing Race Canada)
In an interview with CTV’s W5, Catherine said, “I had all this confidence and I just wanted to get better and better.” She did.
Catherine’s mom, Diane Wreford, a former radio personality, describes her daughter as having “so much energy, we had to make sure there were places to channel it.”
The two women are very close, closer now that 42-year-old Catherine’s energy is being channeled towards the fight of her life. More than nine years ago, she was diagnosed with anaplastic astrocytoma, a rare malignant brain tumour, and she was given two to six years to live. She’s outlived the prognosis.
As Diane told us, “Catherine is one of those people you go to cheer up, and she ends up cheering you up. She’s very positive.”
Diane is embracing her daughter’s positivity, but knows time is precious, which is why the extended family is spending time together, living just a few blocks apart in Winnipeg.
It’s given Catherine’s two children, Elliot, 12 and Quinn, 9, a chance to bond with their grandparents, and Diane, a chance to perpetuate her daughter’s legacy.
“Every day I will tell them how silly she was, or she used to do that.”
It’s those stories Catherine wants her mother to share with her kids, because the children know, “my time is limited and that I’m doing my best to stay here as long as I can. “
Catherine is also paying it forward by bringing hope to others. “If I’m not inspirational, then I’ve lost my way. I want people to see that things are possible, even with a terminal diagnosis.”
Catherine Wreford Ledlow speaks with CTV W5's Sandie Rinaldo
No one looking at Catherine today will believe she’s fighting a fatal disease.
She says, “That’s part of the trouble with it. It’s an invisible disease. And so I have to talk about it. Not so people go, 'oh poor Catherine,' but so people go, 'oh wow, she has brain cancer, but she can still do this and this and this and this.'”
Doctors cannot explain why Catherine has survived this long, but if a passion for life, pushing the limits, and pursuing new experiences is the answer, it will be a mother’s gift to her children when time moves on without her and memories start to fade.
Catherine and Craig dancing. They first met at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School over two decades ago (W5)
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than half of Canadians say freedom of speech is under threat, new poll suggests
A new poll suggests a majority of Canadians feel their right to freedom of speech is in danger.
NEW Kim Kardashian brand kids' sleepwear and more: Here are some recalls to watch out for
Here are the latest recalls Canadians should watch out for, according to Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Maple Leafs down Bruins 2-1 to force Game 7
William Nylander scored twice and Joseph Woll made 22 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday to force Game 7 in their first-round series.
Is your password 123456? Here's why you should make it stronger
With the sheer number of passwords needed today, it may come as no surprise that over 60 per cent of Canadians feel overwhelmed, and over a third reportedly forget their passwords monthly.
Britney Spears and Sam Asghari are officially divorced and single
Britney Spears and Sam Asghari are officially divorced and single.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
China sends a probe to get samples from the less-explored far side of the moon
China on Friday launched a lunar probe to land on the far side of the moon and return with samples that could provide insights into differences between the less-explored region and the better-known near side.
Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story
Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president.
OPP's mandatory alcohol screening during traffic stops 'not acceptable': CCLA
A spike in impaired driving-related collisions has caused Ontario’s provincial police to begin enforcing mandatory alcohol screening (MAS) at all traffic stops in the Greater Toronto Area -- a move one civil rights group says is ‘not acceptable.’
Local Spotlight
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
Here's how one of Sask.'s largest power plants was knocked out for 73 days, and what it took to fix it
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
Quebec police officer anonymously donates kidney, changes schoolteacher's life
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Canada's oldest hat store still going strong after 90 years
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Road closed in Oak Bay, B.C., so elephant seal can cross
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
B.C. breweries take home awards at World Beer Cup
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Kitchener family says their 10-year-old needs life-saving drug that cost $600,000
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
Haida Elder suing Catholic Church and priest, hopes for 'healing and reconciliation'
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.