GORE BAY—Sergeant Dayne Campbell of the Vancouver Police Department had planned on retiring as a cyclist in the Cops for Cancer program with the Canadian Cancer Society, choosing to go behind the scenes to try and encourage more police officers involved, but he is now in the middle of a cross-Canada trek to raise awareness for pediatric cancer.
“I’ve been involved in the Cops for Cancer for pediatric cancer for 15 years,” Mr. Campbell said on a visit to Manitoulin Transport in Gore Bay last Thursday. “My wife and I have a couple of daughters. So last year I said I was going to retire as a rider and be more involved behind the scenes, but a month later we found out one of my daughters, who is 16 now, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer call myxoid liposarcoma.”
“I decided to put my bicycle helmet back on and bring even more awareness of pediatric cancer,” said Sergeant Campbell. “You prepare and build your whole life on protecting your kids, and then you have to take one of your kids to the hospital and find out they have cancer.” Mr. Campbell was at Manitoulin Transport to thank representatives of the company for their sponsorship of a cycling kit for him.
A blurb on the Vancouver Police website states, “To say (his daughters) diagnosis was a shock to us all was an understatement. Since that day, her world has changed drastically. Instead of attending her five plus hours of competitive gymnastics training every day, she has been a frequent visitor to Children’s Hospital, BC Cancer Agency and many different medical offices.”
Instead of retiring from riding, he worked on an action plan to help raise even more awareness and funds for pediatric cancer. He decided to go on a cross-country, 7,000 kilometre cycling tour to both raise awareness and raise money for children battling cancer. His journey began on May 6, 2024 for a solo and self-funding cycling journey across Canada. His goal is to complete this cross-country tour in 60 days, even though it typically takes most riders three months.
“This is a solo self-supportive trip,” he said last Thursday, which also marked the 32nd day of his ride across Canada. “My main goal in all of this is to promote Cops for Cancer, promote and raise awareness of the program and raise some funds along the way and maybe encourage other officers to take part in the program.” He said that while he is on the trip solo, for about 80 percent of the trek thus far he has been supported by police officers who ride with him through various communities.
“The Cops for Cancer program is very big in British Columbia and Alberta, and I am hoping that I can raise awareness of the program across Canada so police officers and first responders in other provinces will be inspired to start their own Cops for Cancer campaigns as well,” said Sergeant Campbell.
Sergeant Campbell explained Cops for Cancer began in 1994. “Edmonton Police Service Sergeant Gary Goulet had met a five-year-old boy (Lyle Jorgensen) in elementary school who had cancer and had been bullied in school for losing his hair through cancer treatment. I know Gary and he had been told by his sister, who was a teacher at the school, about the boy. Gary visited the boy at the school and the kids who had bullied him. After meeting the boy, he ramped up the Cops for Cancer program.”
More than 25 years later, Cops for Cancer is a national program that raises money for life-saving childhood cancer research and to support children with cancer and their families as they navigate an extremely challenging experience. In British Columbia, Cops for Cancer Tour de Coast team hosts four cycling tours every September in regions across the province.
“There are four different tours every year in BC, 1,000 rides with between 40-50 riders in each who go to schools and events to raise awareness of the program and to raise funds,” continued Sergeant Campbell. He originally decided to apply to join the Cops for Cancer team to show solidarity for his mother and grandmother who both had gone through a journey with cancer. “I continued signing up, year after year, developing friendships with some of the kids and their families who Cops for Cancer supported, and it just snowballed from there. I went from visiting their elementary schools to seeing some of them graduate high school and enter law school. There were many happy stories over the years but on the other hand there were some heartbreaking moments along the way which only motivated me more to continue.”
In 2023, he celebrated his 15th year participating in the Cops for Cancer Tour de Coast, having cycled over 12,000 kilometres and personally raised over $150,000. As part of the Tour De Coast Team, they have collectively raised over $5 million in support of pediatric cancer research and Camp Goodtimes, a summer camp for kids with cancer. “And every year on the West Coast we raise about $2 million toward pediatric cancer, to send kids to camp. We get to go there every year and spend a day with the kids. It’s a riot. It’s so much fun. Some of the kids are still going through treatments, but at this camp they at least get to be kids again.”
“I am riding all the way to Halifax, Nova Scotia,” Sergeant Campbell said. As of day 32, he had raised $40,000 for pediatric cancer and felt with the support he was receiving along the way, “we could get up to $100,000, hopefully.”
Along the way on his bicycling excursion campaign, Sergeant Campbell said he has received tremendous support from his fellow brothers and sisters in the police.
Recently retired Manitoulin Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Constable Steve Redmond reached out to Mr. Sergeant Campbell about his visit to the Island. Mr. Redmond met up with him in Massey on Tuesday of last week and the two bicycled from there to Mindemoya where he stayed the evening with the Redmond family.
“Matthew Campbell (a director for Cops for Cancer of Owen Sound) had originally reached out to me and Manitoulin Transport about the company sponsoring my cycling kit, which includes jackets, shorts, shirts, etc,” said Sergeant Cambell. “I want to thank Manitoulin Transport for your support. It is very much appreciated.”
After his visit to Manitoulin Transport at Gore Bay, Mr. Sergeant Campbell and Mr. Redmond rode to South Baymouth, where the former took the Chi-Cheemaun ferry over to Tobermory, where he stayed Thursday evening before continuing on his journey across Canada.
