Chris Sadleir with his parents. (Supplied)

By Justin Goulet (Lethbridge News Now)

Walk to Breathe

Alberta man walking from Lethbridge to Edmonton in support of Lung Association

Apr 18, 2021 | 11:00 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – An Alberta man is taking a 500 kilometre-plus walk this summer.

For the second straight year, Edmonton’s Chris Sadleir is embarking on the Walk to Breathe, an initiative aimed at raising funds and awareness for the Lung Association of Alberta & Northwest Territories.

In August 2020, Sadleir walked an 11-day, 330-kilometre trek from Calgary to Edmonton. His goal was to raise $22,000 to support people dealing with lung disease.

The initial $22,000 had some added symbolism, with Sadleir explaining that the average human being takes 22,000 breaths per day. That goal was ultimately surpassed by over $10,000.

This year, the 46-year-old is expanding his journey to walk from Lethbridge to Edmonton with a goal of raising $50,000.

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This summer’s Walk to Breathe will start July 7 in Lethbridge and conclude July 23 in Edmonton, five years to the day Sadleir’s father received a life-saving lung transplant.

“He had idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which is essentially a scarring of the lungs, there’s no known cause for it and there’s certainly no cure, so he needed a double lung transplant,” Sadleir explains.

“He was suffering from that and struggling to breathe for a few years before that even happened.”

Sadleir explained that not only did his father’s condition pose physical, emotional and mental challenges for him, it greatly affected his entire family.

“People don’t realize the far-reaching effects that it has for the entire family, as well as the financial toll and the emotional toll. My mom was an absolute rock-star through the whole thing, sort of keeping the family all together,” he says. “It just became very close to my heart, so that was the inspiration. I thought, I want to take my casual walking to another level.”

Following his father’s health situation, Sadleir did some research and became involved with the Lung Association. He says statistics on lung conditions are shocking.

“One in five Albertans in their lifetime will be affected by some form of lung disease – not to mention all of their family and everyone that has to go through that with them, so it’s absolutely devastating.”

He added that in Canada, chronic respiratory conditions rank among the top for mortality rates.

Sadleir noted that, “Unfortunately, here in Alberta, it receives less than one-third of the government funding that it needs, so we need to raise that awareness. We need to raise the funds. We’ve got to let people know that this is something that affects younger, older, healthy [people] – everybody across the province and Northwest Territories.”

AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE

“Every 15 minutes, someone dies of lung disease,” Sadleir says. “[It’s the] third leading cause of death in Canadians and very high with Albertans. Unfortunately, Indigenous people, especially Indigenous children, [are] disproportionality affected by respiratory infections.”

He remarked that it’s frustrating, because many people associate lung disease with smoking.

“That’s such a narrow scope,” he says. “People don’t even realize what falls under the Lung Association umbrella. For example, asthma in babies [and young children]. This is not an old smoker’s disease. This is young children struggling to breathe. I suffer from a sleep apnea [another example], and that can become very deadly if not treated.”

Logo for this year’s walk.

Sadleir also listed cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pneumonia as other illnesses that fall under the Lung Association portfolio.

The Edmontonian added he isn’t looking for accolades, but rather just trying to help a cause very important to him.

COVID-19

Asked about the impacts COVID-19 has had on those with lung conditions, Sadleir noted the timing of his walk was coincidental.

“That’s not why we started the work. Unfortunately, in early March, a very dear member of our family passed away as a result of respiratory ailments,” Sadleir shares. “They were in the hospital for over a month with COVID and ultimately never recuperated with the infections and whatnot, so that sort of took it to a whole different level as well.”

WEALTH OF SUPPORT

During the Edmonton man’s trek last summer, he was supported by his parents, who drove behind him in an RV. They won’t be able to follow Sadleir for the full walk this year as his mother is battling cancer.

However, Sadleir said, “They’re going to definitely be there throughout the journey, so everything that made it successful and special, everything that I was hoping it would be last year and ultimately did become is going to happen again this year, just longer, further and a little bit more gruelling.”

He’s also trying to get his parents’ likeness on his support RV.

Sadleir during last summer’s walk (Supplied)

“The support vehicle is integral for us. Last year, we had Carefree RV, they’re province-wide. If we don’t have a support vehicle for rest, relaxation, recuperation, I can’t ice my feet and bandage and everything like that.”

Vehicle dealer House of Cars has come on board for the Walk to Breathe this year, enabling more donations via the Lung Association’s webpage.

CONNECT WITH CHRIS

Anyone looking to find out more about Sadleir’s journey and who wants to donate can do so here.

He says, “We hope to encourage people to also reach out to their friends, their family, get their workplace involved – maybe it’s a fundraiser through the office.”

Follow Chris Sadleir throughout the walk, starting July 7, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.