2009 Winner – John Davidson
The 2009 To The Top Canada National Award winner, John Davidson of London, Ontario first gained national attention in 1995 when he pushed his son Jesse in his wheelchair 3300 kilometres across Ontario to Ottawa in what became known as Jesse’s Journey. The father and son team took to the road to raise money and awareness in the fight against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). Three years later, at the age of 52, this determined dad walked 8300 kilometres across Canada and established the Jesse Davidson Endowment to fund research into finding a treatment and eventual cure for Duchenne, the most common form of muscular dystrophy, occurring in about 1 in 3500 boys. Duchenne is a fatal genetic illness that affects boys almost exclusively. 30,000 boys in North America have DMD and Davidson says “these are boys who show us every day what real courage is all about.” The Jesse Davidson Endowment has grown to more than $7M and is funding projects in labs in London, Ottawa, Quebec City and Vancouver in Canada and Pittsburgh and Columbus in the United States.
The discoverer of the Duchenne gene, Dr. Ron Worton of Ottawa, considers the Davidsons his heroes, commenting “Their contributions are just as great as those who will some day find a cure. Their partnership is much more than money to do research: they gave of themselves and those who receive funds from the partnership should think every time they pick up a test tube that it was paid for by one of 10 million steps across this vast nation.”
Award Founder Chris Robertson had these comments: “To most Canadians, Canada is just 4 centimetres across a weather map. Only Canadians who have crossed the thousands of kilometres of Canada under their own power will truly understand the sacrifice, the courage and the true champion of John Davidson’s human spirit! Especially for such a noble cause, this man is a true Canadian Hero!”
