CALEB NICKERSON
SHAWVILLE May 26, 2019
On Sunday afternoon, the Shawville Fairgrounds were a sea of blue t-shirts as several hundred people turned up for the first ever Pontiac Kidney Walk. The DJ had tunes blasting and there were plenty of booths set up in the homecraft hall with information and prizes for top fundraisers.
The event was spearheaded by Sand Bay resident Randy Russell and his wife Francine Lyrette, with the help of the Shawville Rotary Club. Russell has a genetic disorder that causes kidney failure and in 2017 he had the rare gift of receiving a new kidney from his wife, who happened to be a match.
As the recipient of an organ donation, Russell’s aim for the walk was to raise awareness about renal diseases and transplants, as well as raising funds for the Kidney Foundation of Canada.
Prior to the event, Russell said that the goal for the inaugural walk would be $10,000. On Sunday, Shawville Rotary President Sue Page said that the goal had been surpassed the week before. She explained that there had been several fundraisers prior to the event, including a barbeque the previous week.
Rotarians and other volunteers were on hand for the race, and had helped set up the course around the perimeter of the fairgrounds. Participants were each given a bag of kidney beans and would hand in one bean to a life-size kidney mascot each time they completed a lap around the track.
Please see WALK page three
Prior to the walk starting, Russell welcomed Pontiac Warden Jane Toller, who was representing the MRC along with Pro-Warden Kim Cartier-Villeneuve, and she gave a brief introduction and thanks to the event’s sponsors.
Toller noted that one of the catalysts for Russell starting the event was the recent completion of the satellite dialysis unit at the Pontiac Community Hospital, which is a project that the community can be proud of. She invited the unit’s first patient and the walk’s Honorary President, Daniel Levesque, to speak to the crowd about what the service means to him.
Levesque was extremely grateful for the proximity of the service, as three trips to the unit in Gatineau per week were adding up to hundreds of hours per year. He also praised the local staff, some of whom were in attendance, for their kindness and professionalism.
Next up was Alain David, who hails from the Municipality of Pontiac and in 2016 became what’s known as an angel donor, meaning that he gave his kidney to a stranger he will never meet. He said that his only regret was that he couldn’t give another one.
He credited Laureen Bureau, a transplant recipient and volunteer with the Kidney Foundation, with convincing him to donate. David invited her to present to his students at Grande Rivière high school in Aylmer, where he is a teacher.
“She used to come to my classes and talk about kidney donation every single year,” he said. “And one year I said, I’m going to stop talking the talk and walk the walk.”
Bureau was also a mentor to Russell and Lyrette when they were in the process leading up to the transplant. She was present at the walk and gave some brief comments about her own experience.
“It’s really good to be here today. As a recipient of a living donor, it is absolutely the best gift in the whole wide world,” she said. “I can’t thank my sister enough, who gave me the kidney going on 34 years ago, which is absolutely amazing.”
Though she is currently fighting cancer, Bureau remained upbeat and positive.
“I feel like I’m a living miracle and I’m happy every day to be alive,” she said. “Hallelujah, we’re all here.”
Russell wrapped up the opening ceremonies with a heartfelt word of thanks.
“[Bureau] was very instrumental in guiding us through the process,” he said. “Guiding us through, what a kidney donation would be like … I just thank God and I thank Francine every day for giving me the gift of life.”
After a brief warmup with the Pontiac Line Dancers, Levesque cut the ribbon and the participants were off.
In total the event brought in $15,495.50.
