Inspired by the efforts of Terry Fox, 15-year-old Rachel Barlow is in the final stages of planning her nearly 600 kilometre bicycle ride in the hopes of raising $10,000 to aid sick children.
“Terry Fox had always inspired me,” said Rachel. “There’s this poster in my classroom that said ‘Be the change you want to see in the world ‘. I would go in my classroom and I would look at it every day and I would feel guilty, almost, that I hadn’t done anything in my life.”
Rachel, a tier one soccer player who also plays basketball, volleyball and badminton, began discussing a possible run across the province or a cross-country run nearly two years ago. Roughly a year later, her plans were halted when she suffered a fractured femur while on the soccer field.
Angela Barlow, Rachel’s mother, said her daughter was not dissuaded by the setback. “She’s the type of kid that says ‘Okay, this has happened, I’m going to bounce back from this’”
Rachel received medical treatment at the Alberta Children’s Hospital.
“They just did such a great job helping me," said Rachel. "I was back playing soccer in like three months. Some people even said they didn’t think I’d ever play soccer again after breaking a bone like that.”
The teenager decided her journey would raise funds for the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation. The recent death of a young girl who attended her school prompted Rachel to put all donations towards the foundation’s cancer research.
Rachel’s parents supported their daughter’s desire to help others but explained the logistics of a run may not work with her schedule.
“She wanted to do a Terry Fox type run but we tried to explain to her that it’s hard to take a year off when you’re in junior high,” said Glen Barlow.
“She kept saying ‘I want to do something now when I’m a kid,” said Angela. “I want to try to make a difference now.”
Glen said the family came to an agreement. “We settled on biking across Alberta.”
The teen will be riding on a borrowed bike, “I’ll give it back,” laughs Rachel, and she has already raised more than $1,200 of her $10,000 goal.
Rachel’s ride is expected to begin early next week at the British Columbia border and she has been practicing riding on the shoulder of highways.
“I had been riding around in my neighbourhood but the cars don’t go nearly as fast as on the highway,” said Rachel. “It’s loud but they’re really not that close to you.”
The Barlows will drive behind Rachel throughout the 10-day trip and Glen plans to spend some time cycling alongside his daughter during her fundraising ride.
Rachel hopes her ride will provide kids with the motivation to make a difference. “They see a kid their age can be doing this so they’re like ‘If she can do it, why can’t I?’.”
For more information on the ride, visit Rachel’s Ride Across Alberta, a website designed by the teenager.
