BC Woman Embarks on Cross-Canada Tour
Kirstin Whitford launches 65_RedRoses, 65 Cities, 65 Days in memory of Eva and her late husband who both lost the battle to CF.
This past Saturday, August 20th Kristin Whitford of Powell River, B.C. commenced a cross-Canada road trip with a mission: to raise awareness about cystic fibrosis (CF) and the need for organ donation. Throughout her trip, she’ll be giving a 65_RedRoses DVD to 65 different people.
Kirstin and Joey at a friend's wedding.
Kristin lost her husband Joey to CF in February of this year. Both Kirstin and Joey knew Eva and have kept in touch with her family. Their blog, Cystic Fibrosis Sucks, dates back to 2006 and chronicles their life together and his battle with CF.
Since Joey’s death, Kristin has continued blogging, advocating for organ donation registration, and spreading awareness about CF.
Now she is taking the cause offline with her coast-to-coast drive.
Kirstin departed her home town on August 20th (the day that Joey’s 2-day lung transplant was completed) and aims to end her tour on October 24th (the day that Eva had her double lung transplant)…exactly 65 days later.
Kristin is undertaking the trip with support and collaboration from the Vancouver chapter of Cystic Fibrosis Canada and Eva’s family. She hopes that through Eva’s story, the people who receive a 65_RedRoses DVD will be motivated to join her in helping to create awareness about CF and the importance of organ donation.
On August 26th, she’ll be stopping in Vancouver to speak at the opening ceremonies for The Longest Game Ever Played, along with Eva’s father, Bill Markvoort.
The Longest Game Ever Played will last ten days, as forty women play a world-record-breaking 242-hour-long ice hockey game to promote awareness for CF. Funds from the event will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Canada. You can donate online by visiting the event page.
After Vancouver, Kirstin will be heading east. Her trip is still in the planning stages, so check back in with her blog regularly to learn where she’ll be.
A message from Kirstin:
“My hope is that by following my journey and increasing access to the film, people who are not otherwise directly impacted by these issues will see the human connection and help us work towards finding a cure. Those who are interested in helping can make a donation to help fight CF ( www.cysticfibrosis.ca ), register to be an organ donor and discuss their wishes with their friends and family ( www.transplant.bc.ca ), or make a contribution to help me along my travels ( www.cfsucks.com ). Thank you for your support!” – Kirstin Whitford, Powell River, B.C.
To learn more about Kristin and Joey, visit her blog, Cystic Fibrosis Sucks.
We’ll be tweeting and posting updates about her trip on the 65_RedRoses website and Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Follow Kirstin on Twitter @CFReallySucks
We’d like to wish Kirstin a great trip and look forward to following her progress along the way.
~Michelle R. and the Hello Cool World Team
