Greg Shwaga has been personally affected by Huntington’s Disease with his mother-in-law dying of the disease and a 50 per cent chance of his wife having the disease.
That is why Shwaga decided to walk across Saskatchewan from the Alberta to the Manitoba borders to raise awareness about the disease which is found in 1 in 7,000 people in Canada.
The Vanguard Community School principal started his walk in Macklin on July 10 reaching Humboldt on July 20 before continuing down HWY 5 on his way through Englefeld, Watson, and Wadena.
As of July 25, Shwaga has made it to Foam Lake walking over 500 km. By the time he finishes his walk, he will have walked 676 kilometres to raise awareness for Huntington’s Disease. On average, he says, he walks for about eight to ten hours a day and tries to reach around 50 kilometres.
While walking for that long for two weeks can be boring, Shwaga says that he does start thinking about what those living with Huntington’s Disease and their families go through.
“What you’re going through on the road is temporary. What they’re going to be going through is basically until they pass away. You start putting that into perspective.”
Originally, Shwaga says he was just going to backpack it down his route but businesses around the Vanguard area stepped up to make sure he had a pace car and his expenses covered.
That means that all of his fundraising efforts will go towards Huntington’s Disease research and family support through the Huntington Society of Canada.
There is currently no cure for Huntington’s and those who have the gene for Huntington’s Disease have a 100 per cent chance of having the disease.
That is one reason so many people, like Shwaga’s wife do not get tested for it, he says.
“To date, even though they can test for it, only 10 per cent of people actually get tested and that’s because of the fear that a positive result might bring.”
The genetic brain disorder can bring debilitating symptoms, including emotional, cognitive, and physical pain. The Huntington’s Disease Society of America says “many describe the symptoms of HD as having ALS, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s – simultaneously.”
Symptoms may include depression, inability to focus, plan, recall or make decisions, and weight loss, involuntary movements, and diminished coordination, just to name a few.
The Huntington Society of Canada does emphasis that there are significant variations in symptoms, and not every person will have all the symptoms to the same degree.
For more information and to donate to Shwaga’s walk, visit www.huntingtonsociety.ca or visit his blog; igslearn.com.
