Quinn Strang is heading home after 26 days on the road, having just finished hitchhiking across Canada to raise money for cancer research. He set out to follow Terry Fox's route as closely as he could, beginning his journey in Newfoundland. What started as a cross-country trek became, for him, an unforgettable experience.
Much of what made the trip memorable was the people he met along the way. He says he encountered Russian truck drivers, was blessed by Buddhist monks, and crossed paths with families he never would have met otherwise. They hosted him, fed him, and let him hang out with their kids and pet their dogs, wholesome moments he says he will never forget.
The cause is deeply personal for Strang. He explained that he has had cancer twice, first at the age of 15 and then again at 17, right before he graduated, when he had to undergo a femur transplant. He says he is all good now, but the experience left a lasting mark on him.
That experience is what drives his fundraising. He recalled how it is easy to feel bad for yourself until you see all the kids who are going through the same thing. From there, he said, you just want to make a difference, and his hope is simply to give other people going through cancer some hope.
The effort paid off. Strang reached his goal of raising $100,000, and his online fundraiser is set to stay up for the rest of the month. He said half of the proceeds will go to the Terry Fox Foundation and the other half to the IWK Children's Hospital on the East Coast.
Along the way, Strang also fell in love with the West Coast, even receiving a job offer there that he is now considering. He described driving through the Rockies for the first time with his head out the window like a dog, unable to believe what he was seeing, struck that people on the West live with mountains right in front of them every day.
He chose a meaningful place to end his route, stopping in Port Coquitlam in front of Terry Fox's grave alongside his parents. Now he is heading back home to New Brunswick, carrying his donations and a long list of stories. His biggest takeaway, he said, is that there is good to be found everywhere, even on the roughest days, if you just look for it.