London father walks to Queen’s Park pushing daughter’s empty wheelchair
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Casandra Turnbull
Managing Editor
Joe Gesualdi’s journey reaches Paris as he continues his Miles4AMiracle campaign
A London father who is pushing his daughter’s empty wheelchair through Ontario is hoping every kilometre will draw attention to a health-care battle that has left his family searching beyond Canada for the treatment she needs.
Joe Gesualdi arrived in Paris on Sunday, Aug. 23, as part of a more than 200-kilometre walk to Queen’s Park in Toronto, where he plans to arrive Sept. 16.
Gesualdi is making the journey as part of Miles4AMiracle, a campaign aimed at raising money for his 27-year-old daughter Sydney’s neurosurgery while advocating for access to specialized medical treatment.
Sydney, who was healthy and independent before a July 2023 collision, has experienced a dramatic decline in her health since being rear-ended while stopped at a red light.
She was initially diagnosed with a concussion. She was later diagnosed with craniocervical instability, or CCI, a condition involving instability between the skull and upper spine.
Today, Sydney spends most of her time on a couch or in bed, her parents Joe and Kim Gesualdi said. She wears a cervical collar around the clock and uses a wheelchair outside the home, while relying on a walker or cane inside.
She experiences severe pain, weakness, sensitivity to light and sound and other debilitating symptoms, and requires help with basic daily activities.
Before the accident, Sydney had graduated from McMaster University, operated her own eyelash-esthetics business and was an active young woman who ran, exercised and travelled.
“After being rear-ended while stopped at a red light in July 2023, Sydney suffered a concussion and her health deteriorated dramatically,” Joe and Kim said in an interview. “She has since been diagnosed with craniocervical instability, or CCI.”
Her doctors have determined she requires cranio-cervical fusion surgery to stabilize her head and neck. Her parents say specialists in the United States have accepted her for surgery, while an application for OHIP Out-of-Country Prior Approval was denied and is now being appealed.
The Gesualdis say they pursued treatment options in Ontario before turning to the United States. Sydney underwent specialized testing in New York, including invasive cervical traction and intracranial-pressure monitoring.
“The experience has been exhausting, frightening and extremely frustrating,” Joe and Kim said. “We did not begin by looking outside Canada. We pursued the options available here, but the specialized assessment and surgery Sydney requires are not available to her in Ontario.”
The family says the surgery is expected to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, leaving them simultaneously pursuing the OHIP appeal and fundraising for Sydney’s treatment.
According to the family’s website, Miles4AMiracle, about $66,000 has been raised so far toward the estimated $493,700 Canadian cost of Sydney’s care.
For Joe, the decision to walk the distance to Queen’s Park was about making his daughter’s situation visible.
“As Sydney’s father, it has been heartbreaking to watch our daughter lose so much of the life she once had while knowing that treatment exists but remains out of reach,” he said. “I needed to do something that people could see, something that would show how urgent her situation is and how far families like ours are being forced to go to access essential medical care.”
The empty wheelchair he is pushing has become a central symbol of the campaign.
“The wheelchair represents the life Sydney is living today, but its emptiness is also very meaningful,” Joe said. “Sydney is too sick to make this journey herself, so I am pushing it in her place.”
He said the chair represents the health, independence and future Sydney has lost, while also representing hope that surgery could help her regain some of what her illness has taken away.
“Every step is for Sydney, but it is also for other Canadians facing similar barriers,” he said.
The campaign’s message is simple: “Pushing for Sydney. Walking for Everyone.”
For the Gesualdis, the walk isn’t just about raising enough money to pay for one surgery.
They want greater awareness of CCI and the challenges faced by people who require highly specialized care, as well as changes to the process for Canadians seeking treatment outside the country.
“Our immediate goal is to get Sydney the surgery she urgently needs, but Miles4AMiracle has always been about something larger than our family,” Joe and Kim said.
They said they hope the campaign gives other patients and families a voice and encourages changes so future patients do not have to rely on public fundraising to access medically necessary care.
“When I reach Queen’s Park on September 16, I want the government to hear that this is not only one family asking for help,” Joe said. “It is a call for urgent action, accountability and timely access to essential healthcare.”
The response from communities along the route has already provided encouragement to the family.
“Seeing communities along the route rally around Sydney has meant more to our family than we can adequately express,” Joe and Kim said. “This journey is physically demanding for Joe and emotionally difficult for all of us.”
Each wave, honk, shared post or person who walks alongside Joe, they said, is a reminder that the family is not facing the fight alone.
“Most importantly, it shows Sydney that people believe her life is worth fighting for,” they said.
The family is encouraging people to follow and share the Miles4AMiracle campaign and contribute if they are able. Donations can be made through the campaign’s GoFundMe page.
For Joe, the goal now is to keep moving — from London, through communities such as Paris and onward to Queen’s Park.
“Every kilometre and every difficult day of this journey” will be worthwhile, the family said, if the walk can help Sydney while opening doors for other Canadians facing similar barriers to care.
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