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Courage In Real Time
10 Plays3 days ago
After his son Jesse was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, John Davidson walked straight into purpose, quite literally, pushing Jesse across Ontario and later walking across Canada to raise millions for research.
John Davidson is the founder of Defeat Duchenne Canada and the visionary behind Jesse’s Journey. He shares how he started a movement that continues to inspire others and change lives.
Discover how:
- How John transformed his son’s diagnosis into a national fundraising movement
- How ordinary people doing meaningful things can have extraordinary impact
- The importance of community in moments of challenge
- How media shapes our mindset—and how to take your power back
- What it really means to lead with purpose, even when the outcome is uncertain
Whether you're facing your own challenge or searching for meaningful ways to create change, this episode offers practical wisdom for living life with a focus on purpose and contribution.
On Tuesday, June 10, 2025, cheer on John as he laces up his shoes once more to honour Jesse and mark the 30th anniversary of their historic journey. John will walk 30 kilometres – a powerful tribute to the distance he walked each day with Jesse. To join the walk and donate to Defeat Duchenne, go to jessesjourney.ca.
Learn more about Defeat Duchenne Canada or donate at jessesjourney.com
Join us for a free Stress Management workshop, available both in person at our training facility in Burlington, Ontario Canada, and online via Zoom. Find out more and register here: https://www.hypnosistrainingcanada.com/stress-management-workshop
Learn more about how Robbie Spier Miller’s coaching, training, consulting and speaking opportunities can help you enhance your personal and business performance here:
https://www.hypnosistrainingcanada.com
https://www.mindlinkconsulting.com
Social Media Handles:
@hypnosistrainingcanada
@robbiespiermiller
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Transcript
Introduction: Defining Actions over Titles
00:00:00
Speaker
It does not matter how many titles you have in front of your name. does not matter how many nice initials there are after your name. What matters is what you're willing to do in any given situation.
00:00:14
Speaker
And he was a great example of that. So people are out there who will do these things all the time.
Meet the Hosts: Robbie Spear-Miller & John Davidson
00:00:22
Speaker
Welcome to the Habit of Possibility podcast, the show about turning obstacles into opportunities.
00:00:29
Speaker
I'm your host, Robbie Spear-Miller. Today, John Davidson is joining me. John is going to share with us the story of how he started a national movement to defeat Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which is a rare and fatal genetic disorder that affects one in every 5,000 boys.
Jesse's Journey Begins: A Movement for Duchenne Awareness
00:00:46
Speaker
Pushing his son Jesse in a wheelchair almost 4,000 kilometres across Ontario, John was on a mission to raise awareness and critical funds to fight this disease. Over the past 30 years, the organization has granted more than $18.6 million dollars to 63 research projects around the world, advancing efforts in prevention, improved treatments, and ultimately the pursuit of a cure.
00:01:11
Speaker
Hello, everybody. This is Robbie Spearmiller, your host for the Habit of Possibility podcast. And today, John Davidson is joining us. He comes from an organization called Defeat de Chien, which he founded. and we're going to hear his story about about how that came to be and use his experience as an example for how we can create possibilities even out of some really big challenges.
00:01:37
Speaker
So welcome, John. Thank you very much. Pleasure to be here. Thanks for coming. So tell me about how this all started. when you know yeah I'm going to let you talk because I'm sure you can tell the story way better than me.
00:01:50
Speaker
Sure. Thank you. Well, I think everyone in your audience will ah know that your program is about clearing hurdles and getting past barriers and things that are in your way in life and how you want to make a change and make a change for the better.
Understanding Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
00:02:06
Speaker
um Our story began when ah my son Jesse, who is the middle child, we have three boys, and ah Jesse was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy when he was five years old in about 1985. And he and that is quite a shock because you realize that this is a life-threatening disease Duchenne affects boys almost exclusively and people wonder why. It's because the missing gene is on the X chromosome and because boys only have one X, there's no backup copy like a girl would have.
00:02:43
Speaker
um And so people want to know, well, what does that mean? What it means that is you have a weakening of muscles and as time goes by and children begin to fall somewhere around seven, eight, nine, depending on how they're doing.
00:02:58
Speaker
wheelchair is required, oftentimes by their early teens, and muscles continue to weaken until eventually the respiratory system and the heart are compromised and and it doesn't end with a happy outcome.
00:03:12
Speaker
So when those kinds of things happen to you in life, you end up saying, okay, what are we going to do about this? And I can tell you in all honesty, first you cry, and that's a very acceptable thing. And then you, uh,
00:03:28
Speaker
go through a period of wondering what you're going to do. And we decided to get busy and to start funding research because there was virtually no research being done Duchenne muscular dystrophy at that time.
Inspirational Cross-Country Walks
00:03:40
Speaker
And I thought, well, one thing Canadians respond to is someone who challenges the geography of the country and challenges themselves at the same time. So I thought, well, I'm not a young man at that point.
00:03:54
Speaker
I was 49 when I pushed Jesse across Ontario in 1995 and what rapidly became known as Jesse's Journey. And I'm sure some of your listeners will be old enough that they'll remember that.
00:04:06
Speaker
And so we raised quite a bit of money for research and we gave it all the research. And then I felt a little bit like Homer Simpson. It was kind of, oh, the cupboard's empty.
00:04:17
Speaker
Why didn't we build something that would fund research all the time? So in 1998, I started a little place called Kitty Vitty, Newfoundland, and just outside of St. John's, and I spent 286 days on the road, um walking across Canada at 33 kilometers per day.
00:04:38
Speaker
i started on Jesse's birthday, actually, on the 10th of April, and I finished on my birthday, the 20th of January, the following year, and we'd gone on to fund a lot of research in a lot of countries now and we're just coming up on our ability to give out our 20 million dollar to research.
00:05:02
Speaker
So the journey continues but I think what people focused on the most was ah father and son going across Ontario and we spent 124 days on the road together starting at the Manitoba-Ontario border i'm into Kenora, Dryden, Iglesias, to Thunder Bay, around the top of the lakehead, oh ah Lake Superior, on to Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, south through the Muskokas, and then west along the shoreline of Lake Huron, Sarnia, pardon me, Grand Bend, and around to Sarnia, Sarnia to Windsor, we turned to Windsor.
00:05:40
Speaker
And then it was pretty much a straight line from the Windsor, Chatham, London, Kitchener, Toronto, Kingston, Brockville, north to Ottawa, where we finished at the Quebec-Ontario border, right behind the Parliament buildings on the Alexandra Bridge.
00:05:57
Speaker
So it was perhaps a strange thing to do, but Canadians are very good at separating the wheat from the chaff, and they knew why we were there, and they ah responded in a great way, and that was what kind of started on...
00:06:14
Speaker
Jesse's journey, which has grown to become Defeat Duchenne Canada. So that's kind of a long answer to a short question, but that's the story. Okay, yeah. Okay, well, it's such an inspiring story and very impressive what you accomplished because of it.
Media Influence: Negativity vs. Positive Stories
00:06:30
Speaker
I think it's interesting to stand back from this and look at the structure of what you did, because ah other people on the who are listening to this podcast may want to know how they can change something in their life or help other people in some way.
00:06:43
Speaker
And so what i what I'm seeing from what you described is that instead of caving to a problem, you you allowed it to inspire you to do something.
00:06:54
Speaker
And you kind of got called to do this thing. And then you you were willing to do something that was emotionally connected because it was you and your son.
00:07:06
Speaker
You were telling a story and you were also doing something impressive, right? Like it's like people see you doing that and go like, wow, look at what they're doing. And so it captures people's imaginations. And when they see accomplishing this impressive walk,
00:07:23
Speaker
that that inspiration makes them want to support you because you're you're you're creating that feeling in them. So that's what I'm getting from the structure of those. And I do think that it has that effect when we see somebody else do something that is inspiring and shows strength and perseverance.
00:07:44
Speaker
We want some of that too. So we're attracted to it. Right. I think that's correct. And I'm not an athlete. I'm just what I would describe as a pretty ordinary dad. And I think at that time, most people I like to think would look in the mirror and just ask themselves, what wouldn't you do for your children?
00:08:04
Speaker
And then you just get out there and try your best. And, um, you I'm a wee bit stubborn. So I wasn't going to take no for an answer. And, uh, I was a one man band at that time. So I had to go and look after transportation, accommodation, communication, working with police and, uh,
00:08:24
Speaker
And they were just great to us. And everybody wanted to help because it was a project that made sense to them. um You know, you just, you just realize that it's on your shoulders.
00:08:36
Speaker
And, and like many projects that start out small, you can get a few, ah few friends and a few helpers who are willing to ah be of assistance and do whatever they can. And then thinking so grown and,
00:08:50
Speaker
and And it's a much bigger organization now. Not that big. We're still a small charity, but it's more structured now than it was back then. But it all got built because we just said, we are going to make a difference.
00:09:05
Speaker
And that's exactly what we tried to do. Yeah, yeah, and you took that leadership role and it's true as a parent, any parent, even if they don't have children who have a disease or a disability, they can relate to that desire to do what they can for their children and the passion around it.
00:09:23
Speaker
So I'm sure that ah kind of brought together this very broad group of people. Yes, yes, and then it came from all walks of life. And i think it really is a project that lets you see the brighter part of life.
00:09:39
Speaker
My background was in the news media and quite frankly, Robbie, when you are working in the news world, you begin to think that the entire world is made up of the people you're writing to about and it's not.
00:09:55
Speaker
You're writing about the the rapists, the arsonists, the tax cheats, the child molesters, the white beaters, ah and just go on and on and as long as you want that list. And eventually, after many, many years, you begin to think that's who everybody is.
00:10:10
Speaker
And then when you get on the road and somebody's standing at the side of the road applauding and saying, keep her going, guys, you realize that all those years,
00:10:21
Speaker
You've been writing stories about the 2%, and now you're starting to meet the 98%, ordinary moms and dads who are there for their kids every single day.
00:10:33
Speaker
And we don't celebrate that nearly enough in Canada or anywhere else for that matter. ah We get a little mired in looking at too much news, most of which is a repeat, and most of which is on the negative side.
00:10:48
Speaker
And I tell people that I'm old enough, I can remember walking over to the television, which had 12 numbers on it, and you had to go click, click, click, click to make the channels change.
00:10:59
Speaker
There was no remote control and sitting on a sofa. And so now the average family could quite easily have 500 channels in their home. So when you go through that 500 channels, you end up looking at bombing, shooting, killing, bombing, shooting, killing, bombing, shooting, killing, sports event, bombing, shooting, killing, game show, sports event, more bombing, shooting, killing, just domino that through 500 channels.
00:11:27
Speaker
And here's the difference. Whether you have 500 channels as we have today or 12 channels as we had when I was a kid, you still only have one receiver either way.
00:11:39
Speaker
So be a little careful what you let in there and how much of it you let in there because it does start to affect you. ah So it's just a cautionary note from someone coming from a long background in media.
00:11:53
Speaker
Yeah, well, for sure, you know, I'm a hypnotist. So I'm all about ah teaching people how to communicate or choose the hypnotist they surround themselves with. And the media certainly is one of the hypnotists in our lives.
00:12:06
Speaker
So we're we're, you know, whatever we're surrounded by or what we focus on, we're going to get more of. So from the point of view of work, you know, we we definitely teach people how to be more skilled at that. So that's, that's an option.
00:12:20
Speaker
You have to remember, the media is a business. Their business model depends on you continuing to watch or continuing to listen. And but that's why they have all the teasers with the coming up next and we'll be right back sort of sort of lines.
00:12:36
Speaker
and And I get it when they do that. up oh But it's, as I say, it's a business and they want to... keep you watching. So then you ask the question, well, who's in control of your mind? Are they in charge of it or are you in charge of it? And once you sever that cord and start backing away from a constant diet of media, which doesn't change an awful lot from day to day,
00:13:02
Speaker
um Then all of a sudden you say, hey you know what? I just discovered stained glass or I just discovered knitting art. Hey, I do like bicycling. There's a million things out there you can be doing. And all of a sudden there are really refreshing option, no matter what they are.
00:13:18
Speaker
um i'm I'm not saying hide your head in the sand. I usually suffice with one solid morning radio newscast to get me a national perspective. oh One local newspaper.
00:13:30
Speaker
newscast I'm talking five-minute, on the half-hour sort of thing. And then I'm good until about six o'clock, and if I miss that, that's fine. and ah And I do enjoy a newspaper. find the printing word is more attractive to me than then probably radio or television these days. so Yeah, well, from your example, we see that people do want inspiring stories because they were attracted to your story.
00:13:56
Speaker
And so you wonder if the media was willing to share more stories of inspiration, maybe people would actually pay attention. Maybe the the basis with which they're making those choices is...
00:14:08
Speaker
not as accurate as they think. I don't know. I do know people are very attracted to pain. So like when you drive by a car accident, everybody's rubbernecking it. So we kind of have that in the media.
00:14:21
Speaker
But you know, it's funny, but when i was in the media, we had one news director who, ah ah this was in London and we came to London and he wanted to know at our afternoon news meeting if we if we had a shooting, if we got a shooting.
00:14:38
Speaker
And he was coming from Toronto. And we said, no, I'm sorry. I'm not sorry. don't have shooting. Well, we got a good fire. No, we don't have a good fire. Well, we got a car crash. No, we don't have big car crash.
00:14:53
Speaker
This is London. It's a pretty quiet town a lot of the times. And then he got a little excited said, well, what the hell do you people do for news down here? He said, here's what I want. He said, I wanna see flames shooting out of it, red lights flashing and yellow tape around it. And thought, well, this is gonna be an interesting period of time.
00:15:12
Speaker
So that didn't last too long. fortunately, the hangover of it is that we're still following the car crashes just because it's convenient. I mean, when when an accident happens,
00:15:25
Speaker
um really nobody cares except the two drivers involved. Now, if there's a fatality, that's a different story. Obviously, there's a family involved, and this is very sad. But um news sometimes does in this part of the world get reduced to crimes and crashes far too often.
00:15:42
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Unfortunately, as humans, we we don't always behave in a way that's in our best interest. So, yeah, it's good to become aware so you can learn how to behave in a way that really is more in your best interest and other people's.
00:15:57
Speaker
Yeah. I sometimes wonder what would happen if, you know, that the really good story that was there that shows up about 20 minutes into the hour, um if that had been the lead story, what would have happened?
00:16:12
Speaker
And, you know, the old line about if it bleeds, it leads. is It's becoming pretty boring for people. They just and just know that's there. So why would I bother looking? And maybe they'll get it someday when the numbers fall so bad that maybe we should start showing something that's more ah reflection though daily life, not a reflection of criminals and crap. is so Anyway, we're getting off on another tangent here. bit like Well, yeah.
00:16:42
Speaker
On that tangent, I've met a number of people recently who are very smart, educated, successful people who normally would really want to stay up on what's happening with politics or the economy or whatever, and they're they're at the point where they just can't, right? It's just too much.
00:16:58
Speaker
yeah So you wonder if people are burning out on this stuff and just ignoring it altogether, which isn't good either. um yeah It's overload. Yeah. So it'll be interesting to see where things go next in that department.
00:17:12
Speaker
who Well, there's a there's a there are good news channels, not that they're reflecting all good news, but there are there are channels that do news in general very well.
00:17:24
Speaker
And there's a lot of channels that do it very badly. Same thing is true with the with ah ah print and and radio. and All print, radio, television are all guilty of the same thing.
00:17:37
Speaker
And they could also be champions of the same thing and develop a reputation as this is a great result because you get such suchs tremendous balance in what's going on and what really reflects life.
00:17:49
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right. And so another interesting thing about what you shared is that because you have a news background and you're used to writing a story, you actually created this experience that was a great story and you knew how to do that because of your
The Role of Media in Advocacy
00:18:07
Speaker
news background. Would you say that's true?
00:18:09
Speaker
Yeah. I think when you have, if you are in sales, if you have a product and you want to tell people about it, And when you want people to help out in a project that you're involved in, you want as many as people as possible to know about it and to know what it is you're doing.
00:18:30
Speaker
And so I tried my best to be in touch with as many people as possible. And they were quite, I think, happy to have something... that was uh just a little different and it's very canadian canadians get the concept of traveling east and west because you have to keep in mind 90 of canada lives within 100 miles the u.s border so we're very used to this linear transit back and forth from east to west and as i say they ah
00:19:02
Speaker
ah People of Canada are very good at knowing who's doing something for a legitimate cause and who's doing it just for personal challenge, which is fine. People want to see, can I bicycle across Canada? Could I do this? Could I do that?
00:19:16
Speaker
Great, go for it. and the and And have a good time and feel good about your accomplishment. but But I think people do recognize when someone's trying to make a statement and trying to do something for other people.
00:19:31
Speaker
And so I made sure that I was never paid. on either adventure on the road. if you're not doing it for the right reason, don't do it. me Yeah, yeah.
00:19:44
Speaker
And can you share with us some examples of, as you were going through this whole experience, I'm sure there were times where it was challenging or things didn't work out the way you wanted to, or there was a huge obstacle in the way, whether it was with your son's health or with the the raising of this money.
00:20:01
Speaker
So share with us a little bit about how you face those types of obstacles. um Well, you're very right. be there for the right reason. And the right reason was to raise funds for research to make a difference in children's lives.
00:20:17
Speaker
But having said that, the number one concern for me was my own child's life. So when Jesse and I were together on the road going across Ontario, his health was paramount for me.
00:20:30
Speaker
And I pay close attention to that on a daily basis. When I went across Canada, I did not take Jesse with me because it was going to involve parts of two winters. And that would have been perceived as some kind of cruel punishment or something.
00:20:45
Speaker
And I would never do that. um And then even at that, there are times when you have to make decisions on your own. And I recalled ah ah day in Saskatchewan, on day number 225, I'll never forget it.
00:20:59
Speaker
The wind was just howling. across the Trans-Canada Highway when we stepped out onto the road in the morning and the RCMP were there. So we got started. it was the one day ah that a entire journey across Canada that not one person stopped to make a donation all day long. It was that, it was minus 25.
00:21:20
Speaker
And the truckers still swung out and gave us a big wide berth. But the night before, when I had called home, because we spoke just about every day, um and my wife said, so Jesse's not well.
00:21:34
Speaker
and And I thought, oh. And she said, don't worry, honey, you'll be fine. But I could hear the concern in her voice. And that morning, i thought, maybe I should go home.
00:21:45
Speaker
And then I thought, what would Jesse say? And I could hear him saying this exactly. said, dad, if you quit, that's all you'll be remembered for. And then I thought, well, I know Jesse's not a quitter. Now don't think he wants his dad to be a quitter.
00:22:01
Speaker
So we just got going. had to finish the day and I got a call at the end of the day to say he was feeling better. And I slept pretty good that night. And three days later, we left Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. And by nightfall, we were in Medicine Hat, Alberta, and well on our way to completing that journey, which has saved 286 days. And at that time,
00:22:25
Speaker
I was 52 years old. So this was becoming quite challenge. But you do have to make those decisions at times and don't make them for you sometimes. Make them for the other people who are with you and make sure you do right by them. Because whoever's on your team, you consider them first.
00:22:45
Speaker
And that's what I tried to do. And he was looking to you as a role model because he needed a lot of courage and strength to go through what he went through. Yeah, yeah.
00:22:57
Speaker
and And he did a fantastic job when we were going across Ontario. Jesse was 15. and But I think I left home with a 14-year-old and came back with a 16 year old.
00:23:12
Speaker
I just watched him mature right it in front of me and he got very proficient and enjoyed speaking to groups of people at schools and seniors homes and civic centers and city halls and and meeting people and shaking hands and having the confidence to tell people what you're all about and why you're here. And they really appreciated that.
00:23:36
Speaker
So, yeah, people yeah people people like to follow success they want to be a part of something that's successful and uh and and we have always said that all that we've been able to to accomplish in funding research and as i said i think we've now funded 63 projects around the world None of it happened particularly because of what Jesse and and I did.
Community Support and Shared Achievements
00:24:06
Speaker
It happened because people like you, Robbie, and all the people who are listening and people across Ontario, people across Canada and in other countries made a contribution.
00:24:18
Speaker
We don't have a huge corporate sponsor. We're not a major, major disease. I keep telling people we are not the big three. We are not cancer. We are not hurting stroke. We are not diabetes.
00:24:29
Speaker
We are well down the list. We are Duchenne muscular dystrophy. And the difference is there are no survivors. So we're trying to make that difference and doing our best. And people people responded to that. They just saw that that's something they want to do. And I ask people all the time, what would you do if it was your son?
00:24:52
Speaker
And then I'd like to think that I'd be there to make a donation and help you. and i appreciate what people have done because in a way i sometimes see our foundation and its endowment as money that belongs to the people of Canada.
00:25:08
Speaker
They contributed it. Our job is to see that it is well stewarded and protected and so it can continue to generate more dollars every year to fund research and that's how we've managed to grow. so um You have to remember it's it's not always about what you did. It's maybe what you helped other people do or how you helped other people see the way that makes sense. Make sure your idea makes sense to start with. so Yeah, and It's been a life-changing experience.
00:25:40
Speaker
I bet, yeah. And so one thing is that I'm sure a lot of people really feel good about giving to your organization because they see that the money is really going straight to the research.
00:25:51
Speaker
Sometimes with these fundraising organizations, a lot of the money goes to overhead. and I know that that can be necessary. But from a personal point of view, they were connected to your story and they saw what was happening with the money they were giving. yeah that's That's absolutely right.
00:26:10
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And some I think that a really good ah learning from all of this is that when you're facing a challenge, the best thing to do is get out in the real world and do something.
00:26:23
Speaker
And no matter what happens, you'll learn from it. maybe you'll Maybe it'll work or maybe you'll need to learn from it and go do something else. so But it's a growing experience and it's a life experience. Like your your son said. It Yeah. so justssie i love but I love going out and speaking. I love having a live audience.
Sharing Experiences: Talks and Presentations
00:26:43
Speaker
And if people want to find my story, if you don't mind a little self-promotion here, they can find buying more video than a human should be allowed to look at johndavidson.ca.
00:26:55
Speaker
And ah my presentation is an hour long. There's going to be about 100 pieces of video coming of at you and still pictures, black and white pictures, color pictures. And it's a roller coaster.
00:27:08
Speaker
People laugh, they cry, and I take them from coast to coast in one hour. And I think people have enjoyed seeing that presentation and they get to see stories and hear stories about people who are just like they are.
00:27:23
Speaker
and And it's ah an amazing thing what people did. And I can give you, if we have time, I can give you a couple of quick stories about what things that happened. Because people always want to know, well, what actually happened out there? Tell me something that I didn't see on television when you were on the road.
00:27:39
Speaker
We were in need of a driver for the motorhome for a couple of weeks in Newfoundland when we were going across Canada. And there was a fellow named Ed Coxworthy from a little place called Belle Island, Newfoundland.
00:27:53
Speaker
And his wife had been helping us source church basements and schools and fire holes and things where we could put our head down at night. And on the way to an event the night before I started, she said to her husband, you know, they're still looking for a driver for a couple of weeks in Newfoundland. and He said, don't be getting me involved in any fundraisers. I've done my part for the country. Thank you very much.
00:28:15
Speaker
He listened to what I had to say that night. And on the way home, he said to his wife, well, maybe I'll go for a week. And 10 months later, he went home.
00:28:26
Speaker
No charge. That's what people do when they see something they fall in love with and that they want to be part of them. They just know this is the right fit for me. And that same guy, when we were in the Rocky Mountains, it was minus 28. We're at Glacier National Park, highest point in the Rockies.
00:28:44
Speaker
And picture this, 7 o'clock in the morning, the motorhomes being warmed up. We're all struggling to get into our road gear and so on. And ah coffee's on the stove, and Ed's got the Newfoundland porridge going and so on.
00:28:58
Speaker
And windows are all steamed up. The two minivans are being warmed up. And all of a sudden, there was a horrendous bang. And Ed shot out the door of the motorhome, right over to the minivan that was making the noise, lifted the hood.
00:29:12
Speaker
There's the fan belt flopping around in the engine compartment. but And I thought, we're in trouble. And Ed went over and shut off the van that was running just fine, took the fan belt off that, you have to just envision this, he took a knife and slit that fan belt all the way around the outside to make two fan belts.
00:29:35
Speaker
And he said, I don't know if it'll hold or not, but it might. Well, it did for the whole day. And I thought to myself, not bad.
Celebrating Milestones: The 30th Anniversary Walk
00:29:42
Speaker
Not bad Ed Coxworthy from Belle Island, Newfoundland, with a, get this, grade four education.
00:29:49
Speaker
You know what that said to me? It does not matter how many titles you have in in front of your name. does not matter how many nice initials there are after your name.
00:30:00
Speaker
What matters is what you're willing to do in any given situation. And he was a great example of that. So people are out there who will do these things all the time.
00:30:13
Speaker
Yeah, awesome. And that connection with other people and sense of purpose and doing something in real life is, I think, a very magical thing for people. People are looking for Yeah.
00:30:25
Speaker
So here I am coming up on June 10th, and I'm i dangerously close to 80. And so I'm going to do 30 kilometers, and if people in this area and the southwestern Ontario area are familiar with the road,
00:30:40
Speaker
um I'm going to start where Jumbo the Elephant is at the top of the hill going into St. Thomas. And from there to Victoria Park in downtown London is exactly 30 kilometers. So I'll do my best. I hope I don't let anybody down on that day. and And we'll continue to fund research. And I'm doing that to mark the 30th anniversary of our crossing Ontario together because I just think that's what I'm supposed to do.
00:31:08
Speaker
Yeah, amazing. So if people want to join you on that walk, can they find out information on your website or how can they register? They can. if they exist For this one, if they just go to jessiesjourney.com, the website will come up right away.
00:31:24
Speaker
And there's no I in Jesse. So it's jessiesjourney.com. Great. All right. Well, thank you so much, John. This this whole story is very inspirational.
00:31:38
Speaker
And I loved your spirit. Well, thank you. And I'll laugh and i i look forward to meeting you in person someday, Robbie. and Yeah. It'll be great.
00:31:48
Speaker
That would be wonderful. Yeah, yeah. Well, thanks again. my pleasure. On Tuesday, June 10th, 2025, let's cheer on John as he laces up his shoes once more to honor Jesse and mark the 30th anniversary of their historic journey.
00:32:05
Speaker
John will walk 30 kilometers, a powerful tribute to the distance he walked each day with Jesse. To join the walk and donate to Defeat Duchenne, go to jessiesjourney.ca.
00:32:16
Speaker
And if you're interested in connecting with me and learning about personal and business coaching, consulting, and training opportunities, go to mindlinkconsulting.com or hypnosistrainingcanada.com and schedule your free consultation.
00:32:33
Speaker
Let us know what you think of the show. reach out to us at mindlinkconsulting.com. And if you like this show, please rate and review us so other people can find us too. Thanks so much for tuning in.
00:32:44
Speaker
I'm Robbie Spearmiller, the host of the Habit of Possibility podcast. Tune in next time to learn more about how you can turn obstacles into opportunities and make the most of your life and career.