Inspired by one of Canada’s most enduring national heroes, Terry Fox, a Canadian three-time Paralympian and world champion is touring across Canada to skate in every province to raise money and awareness for cancer research.
Tyler McGregor was an aspiring hockey player in his teen years before his life changed forever at the young age of 15.
“I broke my leg in a hockey game and through that recovery process, started to develop a mass below my left knee,” says McGregor.
He was then diagnosed with bone cancer similar to Terry Fox’s and went through roughly 8 months of chemotherapy.
“I eventually had to have my leg amputated above the knee in order to save my life. I was fortunate to regain my health,” he says.
The situation did not take away his talent or his willpower as Tyler went on to join the national para-hockey team and has been playing for the past 10 years.
In his free time during the pandemic, McGregor focused on initiating a cross-Canada skating tour to raise money for the Terry Fox Foundation.
“The inspiration behind it started with Terry but then it turned into aligning it to a passion of my own and that being out on the ice,” says McGregor.
He is halfway through his Canada-wide tour and is scheduled to come to Echo Valley Provincial Park in Saskatchewan on Thursday, February 9th. He’ll then be traveling to Manitoba, New Brunswick, P.E.I, and Ontario.
“He’s selflessly traveling across the country and he’s selected one location in each of the ten provinces to come and skate 42 kilometers to raise money for the Terry Fox Foundation and we’re very excited that Tyler chose Echo as his stop here in Saskatchewan,” says Shelley Maclean, Park Manager of Echo Valley Provincial Park.
McGregor will be skating on his sled in Echo Valley Park at 9 a.m., skating 42 km is expected to take him roughly 3 hours but he’ll be in the park until 1 p.m.
His goal is to raise $100,000. The pot is currently sitting at over $43,100.
Anyone with provincial park entry passes is welcome to attend. If you don’t have a pass but want to go support McGregor, you can buy passes for $10 at the park. One pass is admission for one vehicle which can be filled with people.
If you can’t attend the event but still would like to support McGregor’s tour, donations can be made on his website.
