Mother Nature, and members of the community provided a warm welcome as Ron Pachet pedalled through the colourful streamers marking the completion of his three-month cycling trek across the country. Pachet and fellow Brain Twin Wayne Bourgeois set out on a mission from St. John’s, Newfoundland on June 28 to raise awareness around brain injuries, and be a soundboard for those who wanted to share their personal trials and tribulations.
READ MORE: Brain injury changes Cowichan Valley man’s life
“I felt a sense of loneliness from people who are unaware that there is an entire country suffering. People feel alone, not knowing that there are others out there with a similar story. I’ll be honest, sometimes I didn’t know what I was doing out there, but when I was listening to someone tell me their story, I knew that was important for that person, and I think it’s important for them to know that their story is similar to other stories, yet unique to them as well. If nothing else, I just want people to feel like they can talk about their stories and their journey.”
“The common theme across the country is the lack of supports,” said Bourgeois. “For brain injury, for trauma related issues, for homelessness, substance use. We heard that in every province we stopped in, people spoke about their own issues and the lack of resources available to them. It’s so important because the issue is so complex because anything that happens to us, impacts the well-being of our loved ones as well. So it’s a trauma related response, how do people cope when they are affected by adversity whether it be there own or somebody close to them.”
Before the pair left the East Coast they started a GoFundMe page with a goal set of $20,000. They reached $8,000. Bourgeois was touched with a bit of adversity of his own when he injured his Achilles on his right foot and his crusade was cut short.
“Sept. 8, was the day I got off my bike. My journey ended in Cadillac, Saskatchewan,” said Bourgeois. “People commended me for what I accomplished and how far I had gone, and while that was encouraging I haven’t finished. I’m quite proud of how far I went, but I still feel like my part of the trip is undone, so I want to get that finished next year.”
Bourgeois, who has 1,762 km of his journey left to complete from Cadillac to Duncan, was the first to greet Pachet as he rode up the driveway of the Cowichan Brain Injury Society on Sept. 28. The personal relationship both men had with CBIS executive director Chris Rafuse and her passion was part of the driving force behind this three-month cycling tour, but Bourgeois, whose mother was already diagnosed with dementia learned news about his brother that strengthened his reasons behind this trip before he left.
“We were going to do it anyway, but then finding out about my brother before we left to go to Newfoundland, that he had been going through some issues, which turned out to be Stage 4 brain cancer really hit me,” said Bourgeois. “While we were in Ontario, I took a couple of days to go and see him in the hospital in Kingston. It was tough to see him that way, but it was good to have that opportunity to spend some time with him.”
CBIS executive director Chris Rafuse expressed her gratitude.
“I want to sincerely thank both of you, especially for not even being from here, and then take three months of your lives to build awareness for me,” Rafuse said. “Thank you so much.” This was followed by the thunder of applause.
Out of all the provinces across the country, Winnipeg took the win for both Brain Twins. Pachet is originally from Winnipeg, and Bourgeois has a daughter living there he hadn’t seen in years, so it was a special stop for both.
“All my brothers were there,” said Pachet. “They led me through the city to the trails. Reaching Winnipeg was a win, because I had been putting off days of rest to have some extra days there, it was good enjoying my family and friends.”
“For me it was the absolute highlight of the trip,” said Bourgeois. “It was all special, connecting with people across the country, and their brain injury and trauma related stories was very rewarding. That’s what we wanted to do, we wanted to connect stories from coast to coast, and I think we achieved that goal for sure.”
Both men took a lot away from this experience, especially the inner strength of people and the human condition.
“This experience made me think that what we go through gives us the right to approach someone else that is put in our path to help them along,” said Pachet.
My message was focused to look at people that live a rougher lifestyle, and to look at them as people first, and that we have an obligation to support people rather than turn our back on them,” said Bourgeois. “I just think we can do, and be better. I’m asking all levels of government to be aware of these issues, and what can we do to solve many of the crises in out communities. There are many layers around brain injury, whether it’s cancer or a concussion, dementia. We expect and encourage people not to give up. With my own personal injury I experienced on the trip I am using it parallel to brain injury recovery, is that it’s a setback, but its not the end. We have setbacks and we get back at it.”
