There were hugs, applause and even some tears as members of welcomed Bruce Johnson and his 15-year-old daughter, Holly, to their office in Fort 黑马磁力 on Tuesday (Aug. 30) afternoon.
The father/daughter duo from Wasaga Beach, Ont., had just completed day 30 of their 31-day Motorcycle for Miracles Ride across Canada.
Working in partnership with Re/Max, where Bruce has been a real estate agent for many years, the pair spent the entire month of August driving 9,400 km from St. John鈥檚, N.L. to Victoria, B.C. to raise money and awareness for 鈥� a cause close to their hearts.
Bruce lost his first daughter, Alyssa, in 1998 when she was just 20 days old due to omphalocele, a rare medical condition that left many of her vital organs on the outside of her body.
The ride across Canada 鈥� which is the second motorcycle fundraiser the pair have embarked upon 鈥� is done so in her honour.
Throughout the journey, Bruce and Holly have stopped at every Children鈥檚 Miracle Network Hospital in Canada, including in Vancouver last Wednesday, as well as many Re/Max office locations.
鈥淓verybody asks me all the time 鈥� what鈥檚 the hardest thing about this trip? What鈥檚 the one takeaway?鈥� Bruce said.
鈥淲e talk about this a lot, and Holly and I keep thinking it鈥檚 the people, and its the fact that we live in a country where we don鈥檛 have to be afraid. You don鈥檛 have to worry for your life camping at the side of the road at night. It鈥檚 a really interesting change for us, this kind of trip.鈥�
The idea for Motorcycle for Miracles came from Holly, Bruce鈥檚 second of three daughters, when she was just 10 years old.
鈥淪he asked me one day, 鈥淒ad, when I turn 12, can you take me on a motorcycle trip?鈥欌�� he said.
鈥淎nd I hadn鈥檛 been riding in years because of kids. So I said to her, that sounds great, where do you want to go? 鈥� And she didn鈥檛 miss a beat and said, 鈥業 want to go to Costa Rica.鈥欌��
The pair began planning their adventure, which started as just a regular road trip. But shortly before leaving, Holly had eye surgery at SickKids Hospital in Toronto 鈥� the same hospital where Alyssa had passed away many years before. While there, Bruce ran into a nurse who remembered his infant daughter, and that was 鈥渢he seed moment鈥� that inspired Holly and himself to turn their vacation into a fundraiser.
The pair had a goal of raising $25,000 while travelling through nine different countries to reach Costa Rica, but quickly exceeded that amount, collecting more than $100,000 in donations.
The success of that led them to do a second ride, this time across their own country.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e doing now is trying to raise more awareness 鈥� and we鈥檙e trying to educate the public,鈥� Bruce said.
鈥淏C Children鈥檚 is one of the top hospitals in the world, and nobody knows that. It is incredible, their catchment area is huge, they take a lot of kids with illnesses.
鈥淎nd selfishly for me, what a great way to spend time with my daughter.鈥�
Accompanying Bruce and Holly on both their road trips has been a yellow flag with each of the 14 CMN Hospitals in Canada pictured. They have been collecting signatures from every stop of their journey, and plan to auction it off sometime in the fall or early winter. The flag from their Costa Rica trip was bought for a $30,000 donation during a work convention in Las Vegas.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of stories on this flag and there鈥檚 been a lot of tears on this flag,鈥� Bruce said to the group gathered in Fort 黑马磁力, while pointing out various signatures collected on the Canadian tour.
鈥淭he flag has imparted a lot of emotion, so we鈥檙e honoured that you guys are all going to be a part of this.鈥�
For more information, or to make a donation, visit .
