Cycling trek raises over $300,000 for HN hospice

Dan Johnson, centre, and Jill Johnson, right, greet a supporter at Silver Lake Park in Port Dover on Sunday as the Johnson family returned from a 48-day cross-country cycling fundraiser to benefit the Norfolk Haldimand Community Hospice. The ‘Live Like Luke’ fundraiser has raised over $301,000 for what will be Haldimand-Norfolk’s first hospice.

J.P. Antonacci

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A Norfolk County man who cycled from British Columbia to Port Dover to raise money for Haldimand-Norfolk’s first hospice in his son’s memory made it home safely Sunday, August 17, greeted by a crowd of hundreds at a local park.

As of Monday afternoon, Dan Johnson’s cross-country trek had brought in $301,000 and counting for the Norfolk Haldimand Community Hospice in memory of eight-year-old Luke Johnson, who died of cancer last summer after spending three weeks at a Brantford hospice.

The ‘Live Like Luke’ fundraiser on two wheels started in Vancouver on Canada Day.

On Sunday, Johnson pedalled the final 10 kilometres to Silver Lake Park in Port Dover accompanied by about 160 cyclists.

He rode his late son’s BMX bike, which he chose for the last leg of a journey that garnered headlines and donations across the country.

Johnson told the crowd he rode 5,000 kilometres “to honour the life and spirit of Luke — who he was, what he stood for, how he lived.”

“Sadness, absolutely. Luke’s not here,” said Johnson, who spent most of the 48-day trek cycling alone, with his wife, Jill, and their children, Hosanna and Pearce, following close behind in a recreational vehicle.

“But joy because we accomplished what we set out to do,” he said.

Johnson’s ride may be over, but the fundraising continues for the 10-bed hospice, which has a projected $14-million price tag and will be built on 10 acres of donated land near Jarvis.

During the ceremony welcoming the Johnson family home to Norfolk, volunteers with the hospice collected more than $7,000 in cash donations from the crowd, and a cheer went up at the announcement of an anonymous $25,000 gift.

Corporate sponsors covered the family’s expenses during the trek, meaning 100 per cent of donations went to the hospice.

“Thank you, Dan, for your vision, persistence and determination,” said Anne Hixon, vice-chair of the hospice board.

Hixon also thanked Jill Johnson and the Johnson children for their support, and credited the community for rallying behind the cause.

“Together, we will bring hospice palliative care to Haldimand and Norfolk,” Hixon said.

The 16,000-square-foot facility is in the design phase, with groundbreaking hopeful by the end of the year. In the meantime, the hospice offers free bereavement counselling and support services out of a satellite office in Port Dover.

Speaking through tears, Jill Johnson said hospice care made a difference for her family when Luke — who was remembered on Sunday as a courageous kid with a big heart — was in his final days.

“I didn’t realize the blessing of hospice care until we needed it,” she said, adding Haldimand-Norfolk’s new hospice will be “a wonderful place of love.”

“That’s what we experienced with Luke, and I really hope that all of the families in Haldimand-Norfolk will have that experience, if needed,” she said.

J.P. Antonacci is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter based at the Hamilton Spectator. The initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.