Cycling event raises thousands for Type 1 diabetics in Simcoe Muskoka
A cycling event in Oro Medonte raised $25,000 for Type 1 diabetics on Sunday.
The Tour de T1D saw 116 participants cycle 25, 55 or 100-kilometre route at Heights Ski and Country Club to support Barrie's Youth Diabetic Clinic at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH).
Dr. Darlene Newham and Dr. Richard Goudie, two local physicians, founded the event after their son, Lukas, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
"We started it because there really were not any cycling events that we could find to raise awareness and to raise money for Type 1 diabetes," says Newham.
Now in its fourth year, the event has raised more than $100,000 for RVH. The hospital had been caring for Lukas since his diagnosis six years ago.
"We had no idea the impact this disease would have on a child, let alone on a whole family," Newham says. "So it was really important for us to just do something and we wanted to get out on a bike and make a difference."
Now 21-years-old, Lukas has gotten his diabetes under control and manages it well.
"I thought you know what, I can do this. I can live with this...I got support from the youth diabetic clinic at RVH and realized that I could do better with this and I could do whatever I wanted in life," Lukas says.
He adds that dealing with a new diagnosis can be difficult.
"It's hard. Your life changes like that in an instant. But if you get diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, talk to people, don't shut yourself out. You'll get over it, and you'll be able to control it," Lukas says.
Tour de T1D will be an annual event, taking place on the last Sunday of September.
If you'd like to donate to the cause, visit their website.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'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.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.