Ottawa may be nearly 2,000 kilometres from Kenora, but this Ontario dad's story is one that'll resonate with any family who's spent time in the halls of a children's hospital — including the many Ottawa families who rely on SickKids in Toronto and Shriners Hospital for Children for specialized pediatric care not available closer to home.
A Swim With Purpose
Chad English, a resident of Kenora in Northwestern Ontario, recently completed a swim across Lake of the Woods — a massive, island-studded lake that straddles the Ontario-Manitoba border. It wasn't just an athletic feat. English took on the challenge to raise money for the hospitals and organizations that have supported his own daughter through her health journey, including SickKids Hospital and the Shriners Hospital for Children.
So far, his effort has pulled in more than $80,000 in donations, a total that continues to climb as his story spreads across the province.
Why This Matters for Ottawa Families
Ontario's pediatric specialty care is concentrated in a handful of major hospitals — SickKids in Toronto chief among them — meaning families from Ottawa, just like families from Kenora, often have to travel hours away from home for the kind of specialized treatment their kids need. CHEO handles an enormous amount of pediatric care right here in the capital, but for certain complex cases, Ottawa families still end up making the trip to Toronto or elsewhere for procedures and expertise only available at SickKids or a Shriners facility.
That shared experience — the long drives, the hotel stays near the hospital, the reliance on a system that stretches across the whole province — is exactly why a story like English's lands the same way in Ottawa as it does in Kenora. It's a reminder that Ontario's health care network, for all its regional differences, connects communities across thousands of kilometres through shared struggle and shared gratitude.
The Bigger Picture
Fundraising swims, runs, and community drives like English's are common across Ontario, often organized by parents who've been through the system themselves and want to give back to the institutions that helped their kids. Ottawa has its own version of this culture, with CHEO fundraising events like the CHEO Foundation's telethon and community races drawing thousands of local participants and donors every year.
English's swim is a good example of how one family's determination can ripple outward — turning a personal ordeal into six figures' worth of support for the hospitals that need it. For Ottawa readers who've navigated their own pediatric health care journeys, or who've donated to CHEO, SickKids, or similar causes, it's a story worth cheering for from across the province.
Donations toward English's fundraiser continue to be accepted, with the total expected to keep growing as more people hear about his cross-lake swim.
Source: Global News Ottawa
