Quinn Strang is heading home after 26 days on the road.
“I’ve just finished hitchhiking across Canada to raise money for cancer research,” Strang said.
Following Terry Fox’s route as best he could, Quinn’s journey started in Newfoundland.
Along the way, he says the people he’s met made the experience unforgettable.
“I’ve met so many cool people. I’ve met Russian truck drivers. I’ve been blessed by Buddhist monks. I’ve met the most amazing families that I never would’ve had the chance to meet if it wasn’t for me doing this. They’ve hosted me, they’ve fed me. They let me hang out with their kids, pet their dogs,” he said.
“It’s just wholesome moments like that that I’ll never forget.”
For Strang, the experience has been a personal one.
“I had cancer twice — once when I was 15, and then again when I was 17, right before I graduated, and I had to get a femur transplant done,”
“I’m all good now, but it’s no fun seeing what it’s like in there. And you feel bad for yourself, until you see all the kids that are going through it, and you just want to make a difference.”
Quinn has reached his goal of raising $100,000. As of Monday morning, his GoFundMe campaign shows more than $110, 000 in donations. Half of the proceeds are going to the Terry Fox Foundation, and the other to the IWK Children’s Hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
“I’m no Terry Fox, but I achieved my goal there two days ago,” he said.
“We’re well over $100,000 now, and yeah, I succeeded.”
Quinn says he has fallen in love with the West Coast and even got a job offer here.
“I think I might have to jump at that opportunity, because I’ve just fallen in love with the West. It’s beautiful. Driving through the Rockies for the first time, I had my head out the window like a dog. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at,” he said.
“I just can’t believe that you guys have mountains right here. You walk around a corner, and you just see that every day. It just blows my East Coast mind.”
He ended his route in a meaningful location.
“My last stop is in Port Coquitlam in front of Terry Fox’s grave, along with his parents.”
Now he is heading back home to New Brunswick, bringing with him his donations and a lot of stories to tell.
“Just meeting all these people, I don’t really have words to describe that. And my biggest takeaway would just be that there’s good to be found everywhere, even when you’ve had a real rough day and you think that the world’s out to get you, it’s always there right around, around the corner.”
“You just gotta look for it.”
Quinn’s GoFundMe will stay up for the rest of the month.