Gary’s Walk
20 Supporters
Annual Gary Smith Walk
Gary Smith was a healthy, esteemed athlete in his 50s who was a gold-medal winning basketball player in the World Masters Men’s Basketball League and a player on the Canadian National Men’s Basketball team when he was young. He was also a respected high school basketball coach and high school principal.
For more than a decade, Gary suffered from chronic heartburn and remedied it with non prescription antacids. In December 2005, Gary started suffering from back pain, a symptom that would be diagnosed as esophageal cancer four months later by Dr. Brock Pullen at Royal Columbian Hospital. Sadly, Gary passed away in September 2007 at the age of 60.
For the month of April, 2021 Gary’s Walk organizers have decided to do a virtual walk to accommodate the COVID-19 limitations. A virtual walk is a real walk, but on your terms: You get choose your own course, what time you start, and who walks next to you! The walking is real—it’s the community that’s virtual.
To inspire you Gary’s Walk organizers have put together a picture collage of activities where you post a picture to Gary’s Walk Facebook page or on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag below in celebration of this beloved annual event.
Donating to Gary’s walk is the same, just use the Donate Now link. Since April 2010, supporters of Gary’s Walk have helped raise over $125,000 in support of the Gary Smith Esophageal Fund.
This year, organizers hope to raise enough funds to support the purchase the of an Argon Plasma Coagulator, which is used to treat short Barrett’s esophagus, which can be a precursor of esophageal cancer.
For more information on Gary’s Walk, please visit: https://garyswalk.ca/
Contact Us
To learn more about how you can support
Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation, please contact 604.520.4438