It’s been 10 years since David Walsh nearly lost his life after crashing his motorcycle while out on a group ride near Cookstown.
Walsh, who suffered a traumatic brain injury from the crash, spent more than a month in a coma followed by extensive rehabilitation to relearn how to do even the most mundane tasks — and due to ongoing health issues such as frequent migraines, fatigue and short-term memory issues, was left unable to return to his job as as an outdoor educator.
Instead, the Utopia resident spends his time cleaning up his community and raising money for charity.
“Walking my dog, I noticed a lot of garbage on the side of the road and a few beer cans, and thought I should pick them up. I took the dog home, got a cart and started picking up garbage," Walsh told BarrieToday.
The first morning, Walsh said he collected 100 beer cans, six bags of garbage and five or six bags of recycling.
This year, he says he has already cleaned up more than 1,000 beer cans on his road alone from people drinking and driving and tossing their empties on the side of the road.
Money from all of the cans he collects is used to raise money for the Great Cycle Challenge in support of Sick Kids Foundation, where Canadians of all ages and abilities challenge themselves to pedal throughout August to fight kids’ cancer. Since launching in 2016, the event has seen riders from across Canada ride a total of 12,580,838 kilometres and raised $21,612,147 in support of research to develop treatments and find a cure for childhood cancer.
Before his accident, Walsh said he wasn’t really that much into cycling, but admitted it has since become a great way to not only keep active, but also to help quiet his mind.
“There is so much going on in the head of an injured brain that when I get out on my bike all of that melts away. I can just go. It helps me relax and I use it as a way of mindfulness meditation, which is one of the rehab things I’ve learned in the last 10 years.
This is the second year Walsh is taking part in the challenge, having ridden 1,000 kilometres and raising $5,000 last year. This year, he plans to repeat that accomplishment.
“I lost both of my parents to cancer within two months (of one another) in 2010. Kids' cancer, there is nothing worse. I am kind of selfishly doing this to feel better about myself because I am not working. So I am making my street a better place (by cleaning it up) and raising money for kid’s cancer,” he said. “I saw an ad on Facebook about the Great Cycle Challenge. … When I clicked on it, it said 'bike, kids' cancer, raise money' and that was all I needed to hear.”
