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Stories and photos by Caroline Phillips
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Hospital supporters in it for the long run With the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend just around the bend, runners and nonrunners alike were reminded April 25 of what they’re capable of achieving, whether it’s pushing one’s body to the next level or finding cures for currently incurable diseases. PWL Capital hosted a special event in support of Team Stemcellarators, a group of runners that will be pounding the streets during race weekend later this month to raise funds for stem cell research at The Ottawa Hospital. The Run for a Reason team is captained by well-known radio host, entrepreneur, Long Road to Boston author and Great River Media CEO Mark Sutcliffe, who’s going the
From left, Nancy Graham from PWL Ottawa with Al Albania, president of Acart Communications, and Erica Tice at An Evening with Ray Zahab.
From left, Dr. Michael Rudnicki with PWL Ottawa branch manager Cameron Passmore, guest speaker Ray Zahab and Mark Sutcliffe on April 25 at An Evening with Ray Zahab held in support of stem cell research at The Ottawa Hospital.
full 42 kilometres. On the top floor of the Carling Avenue office building, with views that include the site approved for the new Ottawa Hospital, attendees were awed and inspired by modern-day adventurer Ray Zahab. His story is nothing short of remarkable. Zahab is a former cigarettesmoking slouch who’s become famous for becoming an ultramarathoner in his late 20s. He’s been pushing himself to the max by crossing the Sahara Desert
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and trekking through some of the most inhospitable environments in the world, clocking daily distances of up to 80 kilometres in extreme climate conditions. “Human beings have no limits to what we’re capable of achieving,” the Chelsea resident told the room. “If people say, ‘You can’t do it,’ then you say, ‘Let me show you’ and then find a way. There’s always, there’s always a way.” Zahab is also the founder of the impossible2Possible (i2P) non-profit that takes young people on life-changing expeditions, while also using technology to allow other young people to follow along back in the classrooms. This month, he’s leading a special expedition for Canada’s 150th anniversary that will see a group of young people from around the world visit every province and territory. Zahab’s preferred mode of travelling is on foot due to its ability to take him places where most people have never been and may choose to never go. After all, he almost froze to death this past winter trekking on snowshoes and pulling all of his supplies on sled through the Torngat Mountain range located in Northern Labrador and Quebec. While he was checking if the ice was safe, it suddenly gave way and Zahab found himself in water, struggling against a fast-moving
Cheryl Gillies from PWL Ottawa with Tom Atkins at An Evening with Ray Zahab.
current and gripping onto the sides for dear life. His thoughts naturally turned to his wife and two young daughters. He got himself out of the dangerous hole with help from his Italian travelling companion. On hand for the event in April was Dr. Michael Rudnicki, a senior scientist and director of the Regenerative Medicine Program and the Sprott Centre for Stem Cell Research at The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. Ottawa is a hub for stem cell research medicine within a country that prides itself as being a world leader and pioneer in the field. “It’s been said that if hockey is Canada’s sport, stem cell research is Canada’s science,” Rudnicki told the room. “It’s changing the practice of medicine, and in your lifetimes you’re going to see new treatments for many diseases that before had no treatment for them. And may I use the ‘c word’? We’ll see cures for diseases that were fatal.”
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