PALMER ROAD
With several aunts and uncles and cousins joining him on the final leg, cross-Canada walker Jimmy Lefebvre slowed his pace on Friday.
Lefebvre, his wife Kristie, three of their children and his mother Rita left Grand Prairie, Alberta on May 1 determined to walk east to his father’s gravesite in Palmer Road, P.E.I., a Can-Survive Walk to raise funds and awareness in the fight against cancer.
The delegation arrived at Simon Lefebvre’s gravesite just before noon on Friday, the day Simon would have turned 72 if not for cancer claiming his life two years ago.
“It was emotional, but it wasn’t overpowering,” Lefebvre described the final steps in the four-month family journey. In an earlier interview he explained that the entire family is part of the journey when someone is fighting cancer so he found it fitting that family was part of his fundraising journey with him. Another son flew in for the P.E.I. leg of the walk to Simon Lefebvre’s resting place.
“I think he’s smiling above us, and very proud of what his son has accomplished,” Rita Lefebvre shared how her late husband would have been feeling about this journey.
“It was interesting,” Jimmy described the final steps. “It was an incredible calm sense inside; there wasn’t any great big emotional spikes.” He appreciated having lots of family along to witness the milestone.
“The sights that we’d seen, the experiences that we had and the people we met was amazing,”
Kristie Lefebvre described the overall experience. “There was no particular moment that stood out; it was the whole journey, the ending point was the focus and, probably the most memorable of the whole trip was arriving here.”
It might have marked the end of the four-month walk, but Lefebvre shared that the journey is far from over. He is just not ready to reveal the details. “It’s going to be something incredible, for sure; it’s going to be another journey which is going to be a lot of fun. You’re going to have to stay tuned for that.”
This part of the journey actually ends with a social gathering at Palmer Road Knights of Columbus Hall Saturday at 7 p.m. and everyone is invited.
Lefebvre also revealed that presales for a book about the Can-Survive walk will be launched soon and all proceeds will go to the Lefebvre Foundation to help in the fight against cancer and to support people fighting the disease and their families.
So far, proceeds from the walk surpassed $37,000. He had hoped for $123,000, a thousand dollars for each day of the walk, and he wants to ultimately raise $100 million to support the Lefebvre Foundation’s goals.
With Can-Survive walk over, Lefebvre said now is the time to start looking for opportunities that make a difference and to help fund them.
