Airdrie resident looking for support for ALS Canadian tour
An Airdrie resident is set to run across Canada because of the disease that is running his father’s life - ALS.
Jason Mielke’s plan is to run, walk, bike and rollerblade from Canada’s west to east coast for about four months this September for the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Society.
The trip ties in with the ALS Society of Canada’s slogan: “What would you do, while you still could?”
“I’m healthy. I’m not a paraplegic. I want to do something,” Mielke said.
ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a progressive neuromuscular disease that causes nerve cells to die and leaves voluntary muscles paralyzed. Mielke’s father, who is 59, was diagnosed with the disease last October.
“He just got it overnight,” Mielke said.
“My dad was never sick in his life and there’s no history of anything in our family.”
Since the diagnosis, Mielke has watched his father, who he describes as a gifted musician and keen inventor, fall victim to the disease and he now relies on a feeding tube.
“It takes away your breathing capabilities, it takes away your mass, you lose your ability to eat and talk. It affects your brain,” Mielke said. “It’s the most horrific disease possible.”
Mielke said from diagnosis, ALS patients usually have about two to five years to live.
“Most of the times it’s less than a year,” he said.
While he would like to support his father bedside in Leduc, he said he also wanted to help raise money for a cure and provide awareness about the disease.
The idea for the trip came to him after taking part in the Walk for ALS in Edmonton and Betty’s Run in Calgary.
“Everyone was crying,” he said.
“I said, ‘that’s it, I have to do something. I want to be the voice for people who can’t even hardly talk.’”
He said the support he witnessed at the events was similar to an experience he had when he was younger when he saw Canadian paralympian and spinal cord injury activist Rick Hansen on his cross-country fundraising tour.
“When I lived in Regina, 25 years ago Rick Hanson wheeled through on a wheelchair in -25°C weather, and he’s always been a huge inspiration to me,” Mielke said.
Mielke said he is going to make a documentary out of his coast-to-coast journey to aid in awareness.
He will be taking time from his job as an oilfield health and safety manager to see his idea come to life.
“I don’t care if it’s six months or six years,” he said.
Mielke said he came up with the idea for a documentary after he unsuccessfully pitched a TV show called The American Heroes, to CBC’s The Dragon’s Den in an episode that aired in February 2011.
The show was intended to be a reality series about revamping struggling charities.
Although the pitch was unsuccessful, Mielke said the connections he made will help him in this new endeavour.
“It doesn’t matter (that the show was rejected) because I’m turning a negative into a positive,” he said.
Mielke is looking for community support to help with costs of the trip.
He hopes to hire a team of about 10 people including cameramen, a public relations specialist and a massage therapist. He also needs a tour bus.
“That’s why I need a major sponsor to step up,” he said.
For more information or to donate to the project, visit www.als.ca/The24hrHERO
Jessica Wallace
Rocky View Publishing
An Airdrie resident is set to run across Canada because of the disease that is running his father’s life - ALS.
Jason Mielke’s plan is to run, walk, bike and rollerblade from Canada’s west to east coast for about four months this September for the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Society.
The trip ties in with the ALS Society of Canada’s slogan: “What would you do, while you still could?”
“I’m healthy. I’m not a paraplegic. I want to do something,” Mielke said.
ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a progressive neuromuscular disease that causes nerve cells to die and leaves voluntary muscles paralyzed. Mielke’s father, who is 59, was diagnosed with the disease last October.
“He just got it overnight,” Mielke said.
“My dad was never sick in his life and there’s no history of anything in our family.”
Since the diagnosis, Mielke has watched his father, who he describes as a gifted musician and keen inventor, fall victim to the disease and he now relies on a feeding tube.
“It takes away your breathing capabilities, it takes away your mass, you lose your ability to eat and talk. It affects your brain,” Mielke said. “It’s the most horrific disease possible.”
Mielke said from diagnosis, ALS patients usually have about two to five years to live.
“Most of the times it’s less than a year,” he said.
While he would like to support his father bedside in Leduc, he said he also wanted to help raise money for a cure and provide awareness about the disease.
The idea for the trip came to him after taking part in the Walk for ALS in Edmonton and Betty’s Run in Calgary.
“Everyone was crying,” he said.
“I said, ‘that’s it, I have to do something. I want to be the voice for people who can’t even hardly talk.’”
He said the support he witnessed at the events was similar to an experience he had when he was younger when he saw Canadian paralympian and spinal cord injury activist Rick Hansen on his cross-country fundraising tour.
“When I lived in Regina, 25 years ago Rick Hanson wheeled through on a wheelchair in -25°C weather, and he’s always been a huge inspiration to me,” Mielke said.
Mielke said he is going to make a documentary out of his coast-to-coast journey to aid in awareness.
He will be taking time from his job as an oilfield health and safety manager to see his idea come to life.
“I don’t care if it’s six months or six years,” he said.
Mielke said he came up with the idea for a documentary after he unsuccessfully pitched a TV show called The American Heroes, to CBC’s The Dragon’s Den in an episode that aired in February 2011.
The show was intended to be a reality series about revamping struggling charities.
Although the pitch was unsuccessful, Mielke said the connections he made will help him in this new endeavour.
“It doesn’t matter (that the show was rejected) because I’m turning a negative into a positive,” he said.
Mielke is looking for community support to help with costs of the trip.
He hopes to hire a team of about 10 people including cameramen, a public relations specialist and a massage therapist. He also needs a tour bus.
“That’s why I need a major sponsor to step up,” he said.
For more information or to donate to the project, visit www.als.ca/The24hrHERO
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