Scott Dillingham: 00:21

Welcome back to the show today. Today I have a very special guest. Her name is Jillian and she is biking across Canada for SickKids. She's actually already went from Toronto to New Brunswick. And by the time you're listening to this, she's, probably on route or maybe she'll be back, but she's biking from Vancouver to Toronto, which is amazing.

Scott Dillingham: 00:41

So Jillian, welcome. So what's inspired you? Like, did this inspiration to bike across Canada? Was this something you came up with when you were younger or was it something that just hit you when you were older?

Jillian Lynch: 00:53

So for me, I guess the first time that I had this idea to bike across Canada was actually in CHEO, in the children's hospital used in Ontario. So my little brother, because he was born on cystic fibrosis, spent so much higher in net with chronic lung infections. And that was the first time that we had met someone who was biking across Canada. And she it was such a a cool inspiring story for me. And I always thought, when I grow up, the first big purchase of my life is going to be a bike.

Jillian Lynch: 01:22

I'm gonna bike across Canada. So I actually started this bike. Sorry. This bike trip with the bike that I had purchased whenever I was 12 years old, which wasn't a very smart idea. It ended up breaking down on my 3rd day, and I had to buy a whole new one.

Jillian Lynch: 01:37

I saw this dream has been living part of me. Yeah. I'm 25 now. So it's been at least 13 years that I've been thinking of doing something like this. And, now I'm part of the way done and still have a huge chunk of Canada across.

Scott Dillingham: 01:50

No, that's awesome. So when it comes to bikes, do you have, a preference? Do you have a brand that you like?

Jillian Lynch: 01:57

Oh, okay. So I'll be honest with the state of everyone seems like they're more and more interested in cycling these days, just because I think recreational activities have shifted with COVID and with gym being closed. So I actually purchased the only bike that was my size in about 7 bike stores that I had visited.

Scott Dillingham: 02:18

So I

Jillian Lynch: 02:18

ended up picking a gravel road bike. It's a solo. They're Rocky Mountain. Really great for climbing uphill. So I love that.

Jillian Lynch: 02:26

And I'm gonna be excited to use it in the west coast for sure.

Scott Dillingham: 02:29

No, that's incredible. That's awesome. Tell me about your brother. So I know a lot of what you're doing now is to help support and create awareness. Tell me about your brother.

Scott Dillingham: 02:38

What's happening with him?

Jillian Lynch: 02:40

Yeah. So in, as I mentioned before, he was born with sick fibrosis, had very frequent hospital admissions all throughout her childhood. And in 2014, he was airlifted to Sick Kids Hospital, listed for his 1st double lung transplant, received it successfully, went on and lived the best year of his life. Like, we created a bucket list that year. Every time he craved a new favorite food, he just went for it.

Jillian Lynch: 03:07

Every time that he wanted to experience something, he just did it. He was the appreciation that life is very short, but my brother's health declined. He actually needed a second double lung transplant, And that then he didn't recover super well after the second transplant and actually ended up needing a third double lung transplant. So he is now the youngest person in the world and also the 1st Canadian to have had 3 double lung transplants. He's an anytime that I lost a bit, like, a bit of motivation because you feel like your body is breaking down, I haven't really thought about my brother and also so much he's been through.

Jillian Lynch: 03:45

Because he's definitely been through more than any person I've ever met. But, yeah, he's currently at home with my parents right now, back at our hometown, and just doing what he can to make more memories and spend some time with family and friends.

Scott Dillingham: 03:59

No, for sure. So how is he recovering now? You mentioned the second one that he wasn't recovering that well. How is he recovering now?

Jillian Lynch: 04:05

So this third transplant has been tricky. He's actually been received testing to potentially receive a 4th double transplant because he is currently, again, in the stage of chronic rejection. Yeah. But he has such an incredible mindset, and I think it's his mindset that has really allowed him to maximize his life to the extent that he has. He's 23 years old, but he has not really allowed life to put the the hold on him.

Jillian Lynch: 04:33

Like, he he really doubt every day of his life as if it was one of his last, and I'm so proud of him for that. And that's why he's in spurred me also to do what you wanna do with your life while you're living it, because it's it can be so short and you really have this one opportunity to do it.

Scott Dillingham: 04:51

No. It's true. Like we on the show, we talk about personal and develop personal and financial development. And one of the things that we some of the recordings and previous people we had on, everybody says you just have to get out there and do whatever it is that you wanna do. And a lot of people are I don't know if the word's lazy, but they just don't get out there and do it.

Scott Dillingham: 05:07

So I actually love the fact that for your brother, he's just doing whatever it is that he wants to do. What does he wanna do next? Is there something really big that he wants to do that he hasn't done yet?

Jillian Lynch: 05:17

Yeah. So just prior to the pandemic, and this is honestly wild to me. So he had his 3rd double lung transplant, and he really hard to recover as best as he could. But he was very serious about it. Like he wanted to make sure that he had great nutrition.

Jillian Lynch: 05:34

He had, like, great everything to give him, like, his best shot at recovering to the best that he could. And so he he actually, 4 months after his surgery transplant, drove from Toronto all the way to Vancouver, and he he hasn't driven yet from Toronto to New Brunswick. So he wants to do actually the opposite of what I'm playing to, or I'm doing the opposite of what he's currently done. Yeah. It's really cool.

Jillian Lynch: 06:02

But so his next stream is to drive from Toronto to uni

Scott Dillingham: 06:08

No. That's incredible. That's amazing. We've heard about some of your brother's trial and tribulations and things that he's went through. How has this been for your parents going through all of this?

Jillian Lynch: 06:17

Yeah. I think with the, the 3 double lung transplants, basically just moving, you know, like being airlifted to, to a new city, such an extra family to go through. Whenever we first arrived for it, my parents are both small town folks who are accustomed to seeing more chows and more greenery and more trees than you do people ever. It they were really shocked whenever we got to the city, and suddenly there's fires everywhere. There's a lot of conveniences, of course, in Toronto, but it's all too overwhelming if you're from the middle of a risk.

Jillian Lynch: 06:48

So they should have heard time adapting and then also getting, like, a a grasp of all the new medical jargon that comes with the plan. So it was definitely a lot. It it did cause them both to lose their jobs at some points. I've also been in a situation where I had to choose between caregiving and, and working. And I ultimately, I chose caregiving just because it felt like the more important thing to do at that time.

Jillian Lynch: 07:13

But, yeah, I know that there's families that are constantly making those choices too. Yeah. I have a lot of respect for, obviously, all the staff that took care of my brother, but also for all the parents and caregivers that are taking care of their loved ones. Wow.

Scott Dillingham: 07:26

It is. It's crazy. And it's the little things that count too. I remember, one time I helped, at McDonald's at Ronald McDonald Charity House, And we bought food and all kinds of stuff for this little kid. And he, at the end of the day, he hugged us all and said we were his best friends.

Scott Dillingham: 07:41

So that meant so much for him just to get out there and do something. So I think some people don't realize how that was a little thing for me and my friends to do, but little things go a huge way in helping others to heal and become better and feel better internally from this. So I think that's, amazing. Now we better take a quick break. But when we come back, Gillian's gonna go into her story of preparing and, everything and how it comes or everything that needs to happen to travel from, Vancouver to Toronto.

Scott Dillingham: 08:10

So I'm really excited to hear this story. So we'll be right. Okay. Welcome back. Yeah.

Scott Dillingham: 08:14

Thanks for joining back in. Jillian, before the break, I mentioned that you were going to, travel from Toronto to Vancouver or sorry, vice versa, Vancouver to Toronto. So what is that like? How long do you have to prepare for that?

Jillian Lynch: 08:28

Yeah. So I think already I've learned so much about how to be more efficient on your bike. I think in total, I have about 50 liters of stuff, I'm bringing with me, and that's including my water bottles, my food. That's including my tent, like, my clothes for the trip, like, the socks. I've learned how to dramatic like, drastically live off with almost nothing now.

Jillian Lynch: 08:56

So all my stuff can either fit inside 1 50 liter backpack or basically in 2 along the back of my bike. But I think, yeah. Yeah. So I'm very minimalistic now. And I think it's almost like to be, like, live off of so little, but I also have some really high-tech gadgets with me too.

Jillian Lynch: 09:15

So some of my favorite ones are, like, when I'm biking, I'm also generating my own electricity through this company called. So they have really they're giving me some things that I can generate electricity on biking and don't have to worry about running out of juice for my phone. But yeah, otherwise like lots of lights and cool gadgets to, to keep me inked out there as well.

Scott Dillingham: 09:34

That's awesome. So, when you're going, so you're packing lights, is there any health issues or risks that you face when you're traveling? Have you had like low blood sugar? Has anything come up

Jillian Lynch: 09:45

There's one day. It's about 13 degrees outside, so it's just. And I was only carrying about 3 liters of water on my bike. And 3 liters sounds like a lot, but on a really hot it does not feel like a knot. And I was probably still about 40 kilometers from my destination that evening.

Jillian Lynch: 10:05

So, yeah, you definitely get to a point where I was anything that had any sort of moisture, it was like, it's crazy, but you're just so desperate for water. But you you really in nature, just because there's more moisture than not having anything at all. So that was definitely the hardest day. And then when I got to the next, like, village I was gonna be staying in, there was only 1 pavo bend open. And so I pulled out, and I was probably their baby before closing.

Jillian Lynch: 10:33

And, they gave me, like, oh gosh, the liter of orange juice and, like, probably 4 liters of water. So that was amazing. And I literally chugged all of it. Cause you're just so thirsty at that point.

Scott Dillingham: 10:45

Yeah, no, for sure. No, that's crazy. On the roads or you're riding your bike, right? And you're creating awareness. Is there, has there been any like unique people or cool stories that you have that you could share with someone that you've witnessed along the way?

Jillian Lynch: 10:58

Yeah. Most fascinating person I met on this trip so far is this really young man from Japan, actually. So he arrived in in Quebec just prior to the pandemic starting, and he hasn't been able to go back to Japan. He was only supposed to come here for a few months for a very short contract and then head back. So pretty much what he decided to do is to just bike across, like, different parts of Canada.

Jillian Lynch: 11:25

And he's such an interesting person. Grandparents actually saw the Hiroshima bomb in Japan Yeah. And their family farm is only 70 kilometers from where the bomb went off. And he had such incredible and interesting stories. And that's just one person, but there was so many people on this journey who were just interesting and had so much, like, knowledge to offer.

Jillian Lynch: 11:46

There was this other couple that had a sign in their yard that said free camping for any cyclist. So I stayed at their house for 1 night, one sleep, and they were telling me that there's they had met a man through an edge across Canada in just 18 days

Scott Dillingham: 12:00

Wow.

Jillian Lynch: 12:01

With only a and, like, a little bit of camping gear, and that's basically like a water bottle. I didn't get to meet this person personally, but just hearing their story through another person was just, wild to me. Because it took me 14 days to bike from Toronto to New Brunswick. All of Canada in 18 days in such a little gear.

Scott Dillingham: 12:22

Yeah. I know. That's crazy. So I realized that guy, he was probably on a mission if you're gonna get, bike across Canada in that short of time. What do you think would how long do you think it will take?

Jillian Lynch: 12:31

Gosh. It is so hard to predict because I've met people that have done it in 2 I've met people that have done it in 4 months. I'm predicting for myself. Usually, I go about, like, a 120 kilometers a day. It is very comfortable for me.

Jillian Lynch: 12:44

I'm going up to 200 kilometers a day. So it really depends on how hard I wanna push my body and, and I guess how cold it gets and if I wanna avoid the cold of October. But I think cover as much ground as I can in from currently August to December. And I'll see if we dip into October.

Scott Dillingham: 13:02

That's so great. It's so cool. I, I truly, I love the mission and you've just decided just I'm doing this and you did it. So I really respect you. So obviously this, I think, especially if you keep doing this, I think it's gonna spread with Terry Fox Run because it's all over the place now.

Scott Dillingham: 13:18

And I believe that you could probably get to something like that. But in the meantime, so you're biking to create awareness. Is there any thing, is there a place that someone could donate or anything like that to help along the way to make your trip a success, but also to help others that that are in?

Jillian Lynch: 13:34

Yeah. Of course. So I have a Essakids get loud page. And if you look up Jillian Morin, you'll be able to find what I'm doing and be able to donate as well. And I, I personally know so many of the families that you need to attend and have experienced a lot of the sick kid programs that have helped the siblings, as well as the patients and families of sick kids.

Jillian Lynch: 13:55

So I know that it's, for me, the most like life changing experience was getting to sick kids and then being met with staff that really had a huge impact on me and on my brother too. So there's so many unforgettable nurses and staff that are really, like, heavily ingrained into my mind. And I I think about every minute. I just wanna say kudos to all the nurses and health care workers out there that are doing everything we can through this pandemic too, because you've made a huge difference. Yeah.

Scott Dillingham: 14:23

That's awesome. So what I'll do is when we're done on the show, I'll leave the recording because this also goes to a podcast there. So the link will be in the podcast for the the URL, but for everyone who's listening on the radio, could you maybe spell out your website or what it is like the URL? So people can tune to it if they wanna help and support or see what you're up to?

Jillian Lynch: 14:43

Yeah, of course. So my name, so it's the Kids Get Loud fundraising page. And then my name is Jillian Lynch, j I l I a n, which is l y n c h.

Scott Dillingham: 14:57

Okay. Perfect. No, I love it. I think it's so cool. I'll follow-up with you when this is live and maybe you'll be able to tune in.

Scott Dillingham: 15:03

I don't know where you are, where you'll have the internet, but on the radio, you can tune in and listen live so you can hear that, or when you come back, it'll be, available on the podcast. But thanks for tuning in today, everybody. If you find Gillian's story inspiring, let's support her on her cause and help others and donate any, anything I think would be amazing. Any amount that you have to spare, I think that'll go a long way. And thanks so much for tuning in today.