![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/HALD-Live-Like-Luke-Canada-Crossing1-1200x724.jpg\")
JARVIS\u2014Dan Johnson is cycling across Canada to fulfill his late son\u2019s dream. \u2014Submitted photo.<\/p>\nJARVIS\u2014From rain-soaked mountain passes to long prairie stretches, Dan Johnson is cycling across Canada with a mission in his heart and his late son\u2019s dream in his mind.<\/p>\n
Johnson, a Port Dover resident, set out from Vancouver on July 1, 2025 and plans to arrive in his hometown on August 23, completing a 5,000-km journey in honour of his son Luke and in support of the Norfolk Haldimand Community Hospice project.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His goal is simple \u2013 raise awareness and inspire donations to help make the 10-bed facility planned for Jarvis a reality.<\/p>\n
JARVIS\u2014Dan Johnson is cycling across Canada to fulfill his late son\u2019s dream. \u2014Submitted photo.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need a hospice,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cWe need a palliative care centre in Haldimand and Norfolk. We have 120,000 residents and we don\u2019t have a hospice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luke passed away at the age of eight in July 2024. The family received care from the Stedman Community Hospice in Brantford, and the experience left a lasting impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur family had an amazing experience,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cSo, we thought \u2013 let\u2019s get involved with the hospice effort in Norfolk and Haldimand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luke had always admired Terry Fox. Two weeks before he passed, he told his parents he wanted to follow in Fox\u2019s footsteps.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe emphatically stated \u2013 I\u2019m going to run across Canada. He wanted to finish what Terry started, from Thunder Bay to British Columbia,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cSo, we\u2019re honouring Luke\u2019s desire to do that. Except this time, it\u2019s with his dad on a bike \u2013 and the whole community. We\u2019re all going to do it together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson told The Press he is hoping the ride will raise awareness for what a hospice is and why it matters: \u201cSome people don\u2019t know we don\u2019t have one. Some people don\u2019t know the difference between hospice and hospital care.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Norfolk Haldimand Community Hospice will offer palliative care in a compassionate, home-like environment \u2013 something Johnson believes everyone deserves access to.<\/p>\n
The campaign, called \u201cLive Like Luke,\u201d isn\u2019t just about cycling. It\u2019s about encouraging people to reflect on how they live and give. The ask is modest: $50, one time.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone can get excited about this,\u201d he said. \u201cA $50 one-time donation is accessible to everyone. We\u2019re not asking anyone to give a whole bunch.\u201d<\/p>\n
The campaign has been built around digital storytelling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johnson, a videographer himself, is documenting each leg of the journey and uploading it to livelikelukejohnson.com, where visitors can also donate and follow along on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got extremely high levels of engagement,\u201d said Johnson.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johnson\u2019s route spans 53 days, including 43 cycling days averaging 110km each. He allows one rest day every seven days to pace himself. Each day brings a new challenge, especially while navigating mountain roads and unpredictable weather.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not riding hard,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s effort required, especially through the mountains, but I\u2019m just taking care of my body and pacing myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
The support team includes his wife Jill, who drives the RV from stop to stop, and their two children, Hosanna and Pearce.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTogether we\u2019re on an adventure every day. Every 24-hour cycle has a lot of duties and responsibilities \u2013 but also a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson also credits over 70 local sponsors \u2013 mostly small and medium-sized businesses from Haldimand and Norfolk \u2013 with helping the campaign come to life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSponsorship is the only reason we were able to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though he hasn\u2019t set a financial target, Johnson\u2019s ambition is clear: reach as many residents of Haldimand and Norfolk as possible, and encourage each to give just once.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe funds will be what they\u2019re going to be,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve just said $50, one time. That\u2019s the goal. Thousands and thousands of times.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson is no stranger to endurance sports. He ran varsity cross country in university and competed in triathlons for several years, including two Ironman events in 2019. Still, this ride is something different.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis project is very difficult,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what it means to live like Luke. This ride requires belief, strength, and love. Luke never gave up. He lived every day, never complained, never quit. And if we can get through this ride and persevere to the end, we\u2019ll reflect the exact way that Luke lived.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each day\u2019s ride isn\u2019t just a physical test \u2013 it\u2019s a tribute.<\/p>\n
\u201cLuke had a difficult life. He was strong. There was no quit, no complaining. And this project is built in a way to honour that.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Johnson, the importance of hospice care can\u2019t be overstated.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou may have never even thought about it before because it\u2019s never touched your life. But when it does \u2013 not having a hospice will mean an ideal experience at the end of life is out of reach.\u201d<\/p>\n
He described hospice care as compassionate, family-centred, and full of expertise \u2013 not just a service, but an environment of care.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo give $50 one time \u2013 it\u2019s like you\u2019re just putting one little brick in that facility. You\u2019re putting in some wiring or a piece of the foundation. And together, these two counties coming together to build this \u2013 that\u2019s an amazing thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson hopes the project brings the community together around something that transcends division.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many things that pull us apart right now. But this is a care centre for everyone \u2013 regardless of socioeconomic status, background, religion, identity. Everyone needs it, whether they know it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
On August 23, Johnson plans to ride to Port Dover to complete the journey. The final stretch will include a community ride-in, inviting supporters to join for the last 10km, ending in what Johnson expects to be a celebration downtown.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone who wants to ride \u2013 kids, adults, doesn\u2019t matter \u2013 we\u2019ll do the last 10km together,\u201d he said. \u201cThen we\u2019re going to have a huge party that night.\u201d<\/p>\n
To donate or follow along with Dan Johnson\u2019s cross-Canada ride for hospice, visit livelikelukejohnson.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JARVIS\u2014From rain-soaked mountain passes to long prairie stretches, Dan Johnson is cycling across Canada with a mission in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":["post-2176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}