[Applause]
why am I putting myself through this
my feet are an agony every step I take
feels like I'm walking on hot coals on
off my hips I feel like they're they
need to end the torture and my fingers
they're the size of waterlogged hotdogs
my heart just keeps telling me you got
to keep going only five more kilometres
you've got this Nikki this was my
physical state ending my very first 100
kilometer kidney march now when you
think of journeys you tend to conjure up
open roads of possibility as almost
mythical paths to be taken but this
journey I was on with this March was
very real and every step I took was
shaping my own personal journey today I
want to share with you the pivotal
moment in my life where I discovered
that I could connect my drive for
personal health with that of a community
there is a South African term described
as Ubuntu it is the belief of a
universal bond of sharing that connects
all humanity and I personally believe
that this entire experience personifies
this term it states I am because we are
our collective health impacts our
individual health and in my effort to
improve myself physically I discovered
that I could improve the emotional and
the financial well-being of a charity
namely the kidney disease community
now
we don't often think of the kidney not
unless something happens to it right but
it is a humble organ and yet it does an
immense amount of work according to the
kidney foundation of Canada's website it
educates us on three the essential
things that the kidneys do for our
bodies one it adjusts the levels of
water and several minerals - it removes
waste products as we all know and three
it regulates blood pressure red blood
cell production and calcium imbalance in
your bodies through hormones being
circulated in the bloodstream
unfortunately kidney disease is very
common did you know that kidney disease
and kidney failure is one of the top 12
leading causes of death in Canada can
you guess the leading cause of kidney
failure well like you're thinking
diabetes you were actually right one in
ten Canadians suffer with chronic kidney
disease every day there are hundred
people in this room that could be ten of
us the amount of Canadians living with
end-stage kidney disease today has risen
over thirty five percent in the last ten
years that my friends is a deplorable
high number good health has been on my
radar for since I was in my early teens
my lifelong ambition to maintain a young
health age started out pretty
figuratively I grew up in a smoking home
with baby boomer parents now we didn't
understand the impact the concept of the
impacts of living the way we did there
were no rules against smoking around
children fast food and TV dinners you
remember those were every night and
seatbelts
they were optional frankly I'm quite
surprised that families survive the
twentieth century now fast-forward to
2017
my sister-in-law approached me and asked
if I would like to join her on a
10-kilometer training walk now she was
diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease
and she was living with very low
functioning kidneys at this time and
incidentally a year later they finally
removed both of her kidneys at the same
time each were the size of footballs
weighing nearly five pounds despite
living with ten percent function at that
time she was determined to walk the
entire 100 kilometers and she wanted a
walking partner her kidneys were full of
cysts and she was in pain every day and
yet she wanted to do her part for the
cause and that inspired me to join up
alongside her now when you tell your
friends and family I'm gonna walk 100
kilometres over three days yeah their
expressions on their face pretty much
tell you exactly what they think about
that grand idea and little did I know
just how daunting it was going to be so
I trained and I kind of thought you know
it's just walking I'll be fine
one step at a time and it'll be over
before you know it I trained 15 20 25
kilometre walks up hills in the rain
anything I could do to get my body ready
for the on thought it was going to do in
September and I even managed to achieve
my fundraising goal within about six
weeks thanks to the tremendous support
from my friends and my family that made
me all the more determined to walk the
entire 100 kilometers now the kidney
March is a big event and the people that
get involved are like and they turn into
a family a family that trains together
they support each other's fundraisers
they're there for advice and temps and
most importantly for shoulder to lean on
this family understands that the March
is not just about money awareness and
walking it's about building connection
through struggle now of course I didn't
realize this at the time I was just
trying to be healthy and active but the
journey I went with this cause helped me
move forward from one of activity
focused to that of empathy and advocacy
now day one finally arrives 34
kilometers are scheduled for that day
and I arrived in oh my gosh I was so
overwhelmed but not in a bad way it was
so much fun
so motivational there were so many
people to walk with they shared their
amazing stories and the reasons why they
were doing this walk there were vans
driving by every few minutes honking
their horns cheering out the windows
that would make cheer us on and the best
part they also had volunteers at every
pitstop dressed in costumes and they
were ready with their hands up with a
high-five congratulating us when we
arrived at each pit stop to say good job
well done you're almost there and at
each pit stop which is what I think is
the best part is that there was a sign
that said 4.4 kilometers to the next
stop three point three kilometers to the
next stop was ingenious because now we
were focusing on the 34 kilometers we
had to do that day we're only focusing
on those next few kilometers that made
the day go by so much faster way easier
to assimilating and you then do my
sister-in-law and I made it to the
finish line for first day one
got her picture taken of course so that
was a big a moment and then I went and I
flopped on my back to wait for the bus
to get back to camp yeah okay I
discovered that was a bad thing because
I couldn't get back up on to my feet to
get back to the bus but the feeling I
had was absolutely euphoria the feeling
of what I just accomplished was
absolutely amazing sure I was an agony
but no doubt
not unlike my sister-in-law with her
condition and day to finally arrives
again 39 kilometers scheduled for the
second day and we woke up with a little
more understanding of what we were going
to go through well again
the camaraderie and the support was
absolutely amazing and it made me feel
like I can like I could do anything my
sister-in-law and I arrived at day twos
finish line with 15 minutes to spare
there's a long day and we were exhausted
and we really just wanted to go back to
our trailers to sleep but the kidney
March again puts on such a great event
that at the end of each walking day
there's karaoke
there's massage tents there are stretch
tents anything to keep us together
socially active and motivated to carry
on to the next day and the next day did
come but only 27 kilometers to go piece
of cake compared to the last two days
let me tell you but I was in explicitly
tired my feet were definitely in agony
and my fingers were the size of
waterlogged hotdogs I wish I had
pictures but as I looked around me every
single person had the biggest smiles on
their faces we all walk together to that
final finish line and at the end we
embraced each other fiercely some of us
cried our hearts out it was humbling to
understand
that what we have just gone through
three days only three days of agony and
endurance was nothing compared to what
kidney disease sufferers go through on a
daily basis we walked and we learned
together united by a common goal now
you're probably thinking why should I
care well people don't get involved
merely because they're not asked
so I'm asking care get involved walk
skip pogo jump crawl do whatever you can
in your own way but just do for what are
we here for if not to walk together in
our can the interconnected journeys sure
probably all different but all linked
I have now walked the kidney March three
times oh yes I went back for more but it
not only built my endurance it built my
capacity in my ability to empathize and
care the March is way more than that and
it took me on a journey far more distant
than 100 kilometers it took me on a
journey to understand myself and to care
deeply for others so I say bring on the
sore feet sore hips and the
funny-looking fingers but my motivation
and my resilience is finely tuned but my
advocacy for others has never been
stronger
[Applause]