Bryan Shellito doesn’t consider himself to be a “runner,” but that’s not stopping him from travelling over 1,000 kilometres with his dog, Molly, on foot.
“I’m 40 years old with no running experience but I just want to make a change and let people know it’s never too late to do something that makes somebody else’s life a little bit better,” Shellito said, during one of his breaks on a patch of grass in Halifax’s south end.
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Shellito was born in British Columbia but has ties to Nova Scotia through his fiancée, Joanna.
The couple had just moved back to New Glasgow, N.S., when they received devastating news from lifelong friends of theirs.
“It broke my heart,” Shellito said. “I mean imagine if it was any kid, even worse if it’s your own but if it’s someone you know it takes a piece out of you that you want to fight to get back.”
The heartbreaking news connected Shellito back to the West Coast where a nine-year-old girl named Kamryn is now battling her diagnosis of leukemia.
“It’s kind of scary sometimes and I don’t like taking the medicines,” Kamryn Exley said, speaking from her family home in Aldergrove, BC.
The Grade 4 student loves to dance and was performing at the Pacific National Exhibition with her friends when her parents noticed bruising on her body.
When her parents took her in to the doctor to be examined, they say they were shocked to find out their seemingly healthy little girl had leukemia.
It’s been a whirlwind of treatment ever since.
“She’s on four different types of chemotherapies, getting blood transfusions whenever she needs them and we’re just trying to get rid of this fast,” said Carrie Exley, Kamryn’s mom.
When Kamryn learned her treatment plan included the need for blood transfusions, she wanted to create a social media movement to encourage more people to roll up their sleeves.
“My goal is to get 200 people to donate blood,” Kamryn said.
Wanting to help Kamryn’s cause, Bryan decided to travel by foot from New Glasgow to the Quebec border and back. Along his travels he will be gathering as many pledges of blood as he can.
“I’m asking for pledges to honour Kamryn’s request to give blood. Anyone who signs up to donate can take a picture during their donation and then use the hashtag #bloodforkamryn,” Shellito said.
Canadian Blood Services has sponsored Shellito’s journey and are supplying him with pledge sheets and donor stickers to help him encourage people to sign up to donate.
“It’s tremendous that he’s helping out with Kamryn’s cause because blood donation is an ongoing struggle. This year we need to recruit 100,000 new donors within Canada to keep up with the blood demand,” said Deborah MacGillvray, a territory manager with Canadian Blood Services.
Bryan doesn’t have a timeline for when he expects to arrive back in New Glasgow. He’s just taking the journey day-by-day, with his dog Molly by his side and his friend Kamryn in his heart.
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