DUNNVILLE – For Jim McLean the desire to complete a run to raise money for COVID-19 vaccine research is very personal.
“Our pregnant daughter, ended up with COVID and she almost died with the baby,” the 57-year-old Kitchener resident said by phone after his first of four days running through Ontario.
“She was on life support for eight days.”
His daughter was diagnosed in Kitchener in March, when Ontario was first responding to the pandemic.
She spent most of April in the hospital recovering and had to self isolate for two weeks once she had received two negative COVID-19 tests.
“They weren’t sure if they were going to survive and then they said it might just be one or the other,” McLean explained.
“It was really hard for us for the first little while and she still struggles a little bit but she’s getting there. “
On July 10 his daughter had a healthy baby boy.
Because the coronavirus touched his family in such a profound way, McLean decided to run from Port Colborne to Fergus to raise money for COVID-19 vaccine research at the University of Guelph.
“I figured we have a story where our daughter could have died,” he said.
McLean’s run began in Port Colborne on July 15, his 57th birthday, and his journey is taking him through personally significant Ontario towns and cities.
He estimates that in total he will run 100km in four days. His wife Kathy is accompanying him with a vehicle.
McLean was part of the Canadian military and fought in the Bosnian War. He left the military in 2000 and suffers with mental and physical illnesses.
Starting in Port Colborne was like a new beginning, he said.
“Five years ago, I went to Hope Manor in Port Colborne for my alcohol addiction, so I felt that going back there today, five years later, is a new beginning for me,” he said, adding he has been sober for five years.
McLean ended his first day in Dunnville, which is where he was born and still has family.
He was then proceeding through Burlington and Kitchener.
On July 18 he plans to end his run at the Fergus Legion, where he will be met by local officials, including Centre Wellington councillor Bob Foster.
Originally McLean’s run was going to take him all the way to Ottawa, but with COVID-19 worries, some municipalities along the way were hesitant to have any event that may violate public health guidelines.
“They wouldn’t let me in,” he said. “They didn’t want too many people out in the streets.“
He said he hopes his run brings awareness to COVID-19 and its impacts on people and their families.
“That’s the reason why my story’s out there and I’m running,” McLean said.
“Because there may be people who think twice about why do I gotta wear a mask? Why do I gotta go a certain direction? Why do I gotta social distance? It’s common sense that will get rid of this.
“If you don’t have common sense, I suggest you stay home.”
He added, “I don’t like to wear [a mask] but … I have to suck it up; everybody else has to suck it up.”
For more information about McLean’s run and to donate to vaccine research at the University of Guelph visit www.runforcovidresearch.com.
For more information on the U of G research click here.
