Sunday, April 15, 2018

TransCanada Trek for Lyme Disease

Date: May 5, 2018
Time: 2pm
Start: Behind Canadian War Museum 
Trail: TransCanada Trail/Ottawa River Pathway/Rideau Trail
End: 3pm Ottawa City Hall - VOCAL Ottawa 2018, A Lyme Disease Awareness Event 

On Saturday, May 5th Kristy Wood-Giles will be kicking off her Ontario portion of the TransCanada Trek for Lyme and you are invited to join her for a 3km portion. Five years ago Wood-Giles was on a hike where she was exposed to several ticks, one in particular who badly infected her with Lyme and other co-infections. She now spends much of her time educating others so they can learn from her mistakes. “There is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding out there about Lyme and ticks and I feel it is my responsibility to do my best to protect others from my demise.” Explains Wood-Giles.  Wood-Giles has decided to start a TransCanada Trek to bring better awareness of the issues with ticks and Lyme.  

“My health has to be my primary concern and when dealing with Lyme you don't know from day to day how you are doing or when you may suffer or fatigue.  On the days that I feel well, I will do my best to walk and share information with others.  On the days that my body needs to rest and heal, I will suspend my walk temporarily, bike or limit my walking until I am better. That’s how life is with Lyme, but I can’t let it hold me back from sharing the truth until things change in this Country.” 
Everyone is at risk of ticks and Lyme Disease and the co-infections they carry.  In 2017 alone, the city of Ottawa was declared an endemic area, the percentage of ticks carrying Lyme Disease doubled as well as the human cases of Lyme Disease (and that does not include those traveling out-of-country for treatment). For the first time ever, the City of Ottawa has proclaimed May 2018 as “Lyme Disease Awareness Month” and the Mayor will be making that announcement at VOCAL Ottawa 2018.
“The fact of the matter is, even with all the awareness that is out there the real information that people need to understand to protect themselves is not being shared, nor understood. There are so many people out there doing good work trying to change things, but change takes time. I can’t just sit back and watch what happened to me keep happening to others. So, I will keep walking…” explains Wood-Giles
Contact:
Kristy Giles
kristygiles@storm.ca
613-852-7496
For TransCanada Trek Walking Schedule Check out: 

VOCAL Ottawa 2018
Lesley Fleming
vocalottawa@gmail.com
613-795-2632

Featured Post

The Dehydration Dilemma: Why Drinking More Water Might Not Be Enough In a world where chronic dehydration is a daily concern, many people be...