Saturday, October 1st, 2011
A Walk to Remember the
Victims of Asbestos
and put an end to Canadian Asbestos Production
What an amazing day we had! Thank you for your support. Please join our Facebook page ‘A Walk to Remember Victims of Asbestos’ (scroll down, lower right of this page) for current news and action items.
For more information on the fight to stop Canadian asbestos, please check out the following websites:
I’d love to learn more about A Walk to Remember the Victims of Asbestos; it’s a wonderful idea and a great thing to do in memory of your Dad. I feel that we have a lot in common – my Dad was an electrician by trade; he died in October 2008; one of the grandchildren that he left behind was only two and a half; I have two siblings, one who now lives in the US with his family; we too wanted to find a way to help – we have created a charitable fund called the Asbestos-related Research, Education & Advocacy Fund (AREA Fund). It’s in its infancy, but I do feel like were starting to make some progress. Would you be interested in trying to expand the walk to include other towns in Canada? I live in Vancouver and after spending the past couple of years setting up the fund I do know of a few people who might be willing to try and set up a walk in their community as well. I would love to hear from you tracy@areafund.ca.
We’d love to see other communities have the chance to honour their asbestos victims and bring awareness to the issue–both in banning it and supporting families who have suffered through it.
Great! I’ll be there. What a simple way, to show a powerful message.
Thank you for your support! We look forward to meeting everyone! If we all work together we will succeed!
my dad is fighting his fight now .. 4 yrs now… lost both lower lobes of lungs and bowels, and a bit of his liver… with still more in him he is fighting like i have never seen before… my family (the Somes) 8 adults, and 6 kids will all be walking… even if we have to wheel him in a wheel chair we will be there… making shirts now as we speak.. using the title as the bk and a photo of my dad on the front.. all our friends and extended family will be there to support… anything i can do or we can do as a family, please let me know… my husband is an asbestos remover and in late 20′s … unfortunatly we now know what our future holds as a couple and as a family… i am here for support for anyone whom needs it… as i have with my own family.. just send me an email n i will help any way that i can.. even if its just to listen… being a daughter of one that has been affected by this disease i know how hard it can be to deal with a close family member being sick ,…. it takes strong people to keep that person fighting… even if u dont know them u can always help.. just by lending an ear… cant wait to see everyone and make new friends and everlasting memories…
Your Dad sounds like an inspiration to everyone. Together we can win this battle so that others don’t have to suffer as we have.
Awesome Idea! Thank you.
Our dad died in June 2008 from mesothelioma after 30 some years working at Imperial Oil. He died at home a year and a half after diagnosis, the last 6 months he was bedridden. There will be 17 of us walking on October 1 -my sister and I, partners, kids and grandkids- 2 babies who never got to know their great grandfather.
Thank you so much for showing your support in this issue. The more people who come, the stronger our message to the Canadian government. We look forward to meeting others who have been through the same experience. Together we can win this fight!
Thank you for all your hard work and dedication! I also lost my father to mesothelioma in 1988, and my mother in 1997 to another type of cancer. But her disease can be traced back to asbestos as well. My Dad was one of the first in the area to be properly diagnosed with this type of cancer. He was an electrician at Holmes Foundry – one of the worst places.
Unfortunately, I will not be able to walk with you on October 1st, but am planning to attend the evening before. If I purchase a tshirt, would I be able to pick it up Friday evening?
Again, on behalf of myself and my siblings, I applaud all time, energy, and effort you have put into such an important cause.
So sorry for the loss of your dad. I have heard stories about Holmes Foundry (needless to say, not good ones).
Absolutely shirts can be picked up Friday evening. It starts at 6:30, and we’ll be there by around 6 pm. The last day to order shirts is this Friday.
Also, be sure to bring a copy of a picture of your dad to the vigil–we have a large sheet that we will be pinning pictures to on Friday and Saturday to honour those still struggling and those who have died from asbestos. Thanks for your support.
My father also has mesothelioma, he was diagnosed in March and was in the third stage of meso. He also worked at Dow for 35 years. He has gone through some chemo and luckily we have been told he is in remission. But for how long, no one knows. It is incredibly aweful to watch your hero as a child become so sick. And for grandchilden to also have to see their strong grandpa go through it, it scares them and I find it so hard to explain why we might lose Grandpa. We are all going to there Friday and Saturday and looking forward to it. I think in all there is close to 20 of us coming. and alot of us have our shirts. It is exciting to see the community come together for this and reach out to other communities. It touches so close to so many.
Did anyone watch Rick Mercer…..he was “ranting” as he calls it about “Harper” and asbestos it would be neat to be able to let him know what our community is doing. and how big this has grown.
Thank you so much for your support! We look forward to meeting all of these meso warriors and their families.
We loved Rick’s rant. We’ve emailed him to thank him and also told him about our walk. You can thank him on his fb page too, if you like. It was such perfect timing!!
I’m glad you still have your dad, and yes, it is difficult to watch someone you love suffer so much.
Together we can succeed. Education is our best weapon because once people really understand what is happening they can’t help but be against asbestos mining and exportation.
See you next week!