Photos by Blair Ryan | Erik Douds | Amanda Coschi | Olivia Power
This summer a group of adults set out to complete the North Coast Trail – a challenging trek around the northern tip of Vancouver Island. A place only accessible by boat, home to the densest population of black bears and cougars on the continent, and known for its knee deep mud, vertical climbs, and ankle twisting cobblestone beaches.
And did we mention, this wasn’t just any group of adults? Each of the trekkers lives with Type 1 diabetes and was demonstrating a life without limits in a world where the terms diabetes, disability, and chronic illness are coupled with ‘can’t’, ‘shouldn’t’ and ‘better not’s. Over 10 days, the team came together to help redefine Type 1 diabetes and show the world that we can, should, and most definitely will.
Although never the intention, it was humbling to realize that diabetes was the very least of our worries in our days filled with cougar carcasses, tidal pinch-points, and rope rappels. Diabetes came easy. Perhaps it was because we were surrounded by the people who get it most – our slipstream was small but oh so powerful.
Find below a collection of our favourite photos from the trip, collected by our trip photographer and fellow T1, Blair Ryan (thanks to Tandem Diabetes Care for making Blair’s services available!), and some of our talented trekkers.
In the coming weeks, keep your eye on our Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube accounts for additional photos, videos, and stories from the trail.
Our deepest gratitude to the family, friends, sponsors, and random strangers who helped support our trek – We have ALMOST made our team goal of $25,000 – money that is being used to help more adults in more places be empowered by adventure. Please help us on this last leg of our journey.
CURRENT AWESOMENESS:
Total Donations 277
So proud of this team! Completing the trail was an amazing accomplishment.