Toronto police officer bikes to Ottawa to support Durham special needs centre

A Toronto police officer who travelled nearly 500 kilometres on his bicycle has raised $12,000 for Durham’s only treatment centre for special needs kids.

In May, Rashid Nafis rode from Queen’s Park in Toronto to Ottawa, and he donated the money he raised to the Grandview Children’s Centre last week to “raise awareness for kids with special needs,” he said.

Nafis says the cause is close to his heart as his son, Haris, receives occupational and speech therapy as well as physiotherapy at the Grandview Children’s Centre. He was diagnosed as having special needs when he was two years old, and has been getting treatment at the centre ever since.

“We didn’t think Haris would be able to walk,” he said. “We never thought that Haris would be able to speak.”

After years of treatment, he says his son, now eight years old, can do more than he ever imagined he would. “He is walking,” he said. “He is running.”

He says Haris enjoys reading books with him, and he is working on his writing — he can spell out his own name as well as his father’s.

Nafis says he has another reason for completing his five-day journey to Canada’s capital city: he has met many parents of children with special needs through his job as an officer, and he says families like them could use the support.

“Some of the calls stem from parents having a hard time taking care of kids with special needs. Learning from Haris and being a parent of a child with special needs, I was able to assist with certain incidents that I certainly wouldn’t be able to if I didn’t have those experiences.”

The officer, whose career has spanned 12 years, fasted during his ride, as he is a practicing Muslim and his journey took place during Ramadan.

“It’s truly amazing to watch an individual go extraordinary lengths to raise funds and awareness for Grandview,” said Brandy Reid of the Grandview Children’s Foundation.

Reid says the money Nafis raised will go toward their programs and services to help more children and youth get the treatment they need.