August 02, 2018 (Vancouver, BC) – Bruce Babington’s scheduled time of arrival at Vancouver’s Stanley Park is August 6. An osteopath in his forties, Bruce will have succeeded in travelling the 4,457 km distance between Mont Tremblant and Vancouver in 31 days. This represents an average of about 150 km per day.

Even for a former athlete, it’s tough to ride over 100 km per day. Why did he put himself through such an extreme challenge? About a year ago, as part of his osteopathy practice, Babington met Anakin Lacasse, a 9-year-old boy with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Touched by the ordeal experienced by Anakin and his family, he decided to do something to help them. DMD is a fatal disease without any cure. He decided to do something about it, and all funds raised in the course of this event will be donated to La Force Foundation, a non-profit organization funded by the Lacasse family (Anakin’s parents).

 

Riding to Raise Funds and Awareness
Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a fatal disease for which there is at present no cure. Without treatment, the normal evolution of the disease inevitably brings about premature death between the ages of 18 and 25, sometimes earlier. There is still no cure or approved treatment for this disease in Canada. However, there is hope for Canadian families… Currently, treatments for DMD that can help manage and slow the progression of this rare disease have been approved and are accessible to patients in the U.S. and the U.K., but not yet in Canada. Any delay in access to treatment means that some Canadian children diagnosed with DMD may have significant and irreparable muscle damage, limiting their quality and length of life. Bruce is helping families access new treatments faster by raising funds to finance new promising research.

Schedule of Bruce’s last week riding across Canada
August 1— Grand Forks – August 2 — Osoyos – August 3 — Princeton
August 4 — Hope – August 5 — Abbotsford – August 6 — Stanley Park (Vancouver)

Follow Bruce here.

About La Force Foundation
The Force Foundation’s mission is to unite the DMD community around a common objective, that of providing access to new treatments as fast as possible and to participate in the funding of promising research projects.