The Help Me Bury Cancer Initiative, where perseverance and compassion collide

After walking from Windsor, Ontario, to Ottawa, Ontario, pulling a heavy sled behind him with the letters CANCER on it, Mike Duhacek offers inspirational reflections on the day he literally buried those letters at the Canadian Cancer Society in Ottawa, completing his first major fundraiser to raise funds and awareness for cancer, done in the dead of winter, February 2013.

When Mike, founder of helpmeburycancer, nears his final destination of Ottawa, he pulls inspiration (and a heavy sled!) from his family to try and make it through, all the while repeating the same phrase 43,000 times, to try and stay focused on burying cancer.

Despite the pain of cramps in his legs, Mike Duhacek, founder of helpmeburycancer, marvels at the scenery in Gananoque, Ontario, and is grateful for the support of his drivers, who make sure to have his back while he pulls his sled across Ontario, raising funds and awareness for the Canadian Cancer Society.

This day of Mike’s million step walk to raise funds and awareness for cancer include why his body and mind had to work together, and what he used as his focus. And the very moving account of when people called him courageous, why he knew they had it wrong. The proof was meeting Evelyn.

Mike Duhacek, founder of helpmeburycancer, shares highs and lows of another day (including gas tanks, an accident and a piggy-bank!) walking across Ontario, Canada, pulling a heavy sled behind him, raising funds and awareness, for cancer patients and their families.

Can Mike Duhacek and his sister Nicole make it in time for a dream come true segment on Toronto’s Breakfast Television that would give Helpmeburycancer the exposure it needs? Tune in to have a smile when what can go wrong, does. Yet despite this exciting high, the physical challenges Mike faces, bring the low.

Mike recounts his excitement pulling his helpmeburycancer sled into Halton County, where he and his sister grew up, and where the Halton Regional Police Headquarters (his second family) were expecting his arrival, but he never forgot the reasons he was doing what he was doing, especially when mothers with children with cancer, or mothers who had lost a child to cancer, came out to share their stories with him and thank him for what he was doing. Mike also passed another milestone in fundraising while he was walking through Halton!

Reflections from Mike's Mom. Join Mike as he hands the mic to his mom, as she remembers the impact of helpmeburycancer, feeling blessed, and the power of fake knitting.

Hear Mike’s unexpected inspiration from a cancer survivor and the strong pull (and push!) of family love on Day 7 and 8 of his over 900 KM helpmeburycancer walk for the Canadian Cancer Society in February 2013.

Day 5 of the Helpmeburycancer trek brought a physical struggle for Mike, due to unrelenting bad weather and hills, considering he was pulling a 100 pound plus sled on his back (with the letters CANCER on it carved from blocks of wood.) But Mike used music, and mostly, the kindness of strangers, for the motivation he needed to get through another day.

Join Mike as he shares touching and supportive stories from Day 3 and Day 4 of his million-step walk raising funds and awareness for cancer, and the six-hour mantra that got him through it. You might even need a tissue for this one!

Let Mike take you back to the cold winter morning on the first day of the Help Me Bury Cancer journey across the province, and learn how quickly he encountered the first unexpected challenge that could already threaten the completion of his dream.

Mike Duhacek is a self-described “regular Canadian guy.” Join him in this episode to hear the back-story of the creation of the helpmeburycancer initiative and the motivation that drove him.

A peek into a podcast where perseverance and compassion collide.