By Tami Eagen – Sydenham Current
It was a special Terry Fox Run this year for a Wallaceburg man.
After being in an accident in June of last year, Rick Bernard was forced to postpone a bike ride from Wallaceburg to London to raise donations for the Ronald McDonald House.
Since then, Bernard has been recovering physically and mentally.
He set a personal recovery goal to ride his bike again on the road, which he achieved at last month’s Terry Fox Run in Wallaceburg.
“Being back on my bike for the Terry Fox ride was a mixture of emotions,” Bernard told the Sydenham Current.
“There was the uncertainty/fear of being back on the bike as well as the joy of being back on the bike and riding around doing what I love to do.”
While his twin boys Max and Joe spent eight weeks in the hospital after being born prematurely, Bernard said Ronald McDonald House made a difficult situation a little easier for his family.
This is why his ride to London was so close to his heart.
Bernard said he wanted to give back to the Ronald McDonald House for their generosity.
Although his goal is to complete the ride from Wallaceburg to London at some point, there is no date set at this time.
He added: “Things could’ve been worse. The one thing that I could stress to anybody who’s riding a bicycle, whether you’re around town or out on the country road or wherever you are, young and old, please wear a helmet at all times… because if I wasn’t wearing a helmet, I probably wouldn’t be here.”
Bernard said he will be undergoing surgery to do more repairs to his elbow, sometime next summer.
“The hope and ambition is still there to do the ride and complete it,” he said.
Bernard and his family are keeping busy giving back to the community in other ways as well.
Bernard and his partner Loree Bailey recently launched the ‘Little Free Pantry’ in Wallaceburg.
Learn more about their initiative, here.
