The story of Wheel to Walk Canada begins
with Charlie Cetinski from Freelton, Ontario. Charlie
suffered a spinal cord injury in the crash of an
aircraft that he was test-piloting—an injury that left
him a paraplegic. Not allowing his paralysis to stand in
his way, Charlie founded the Golden Horseshoe
Marathon (GHM). Every year for the last nine years
Charlie Cetinski has successfully completed wheelchair
marathons from Niagara Falls to Toronto covering 210
kilometers over 5 days.
Charlie also holds the world record for
wheelchair marathons, having completed 10 consecutive
marathons, traveling 420 kilometers in ten days. That
is, 42 kilometers (over 26 miles) each and every day for
10 days in a row.
Proceeds from the first 3 GHM marathons
were used to create a resource centre at the Chedoke
Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario. Today, this resource
centre continues to provide valuable services to spinal
cord injured individuals. For the following 3 years,
the GHM supported the Canadian Paraplegic Association.
In 2006, GHM participants and volunteers
became aware of spinal regeneration research being
carried out by the Spinal Neurorestorative Group at
McMaster University located in Hamilton, Ontario. Headed
by Dr.'s Michel Rathbone and Dr. Shucui Jiang, the
Golden Horseshoe Marathon organization decided to focus
their efforts in support of this research, and Charlie
Cetinski decided that one day, he would walk again.
The Golden Horseshoe Marathon is the
forerunner of the Spinal Neuro Restorative Society (SNS)
established in 2007, and like the GHM, its focus is to
address the need for funding of medical research to
develop a cure for persons with spinal cord injuries.
The Spinal Neuro Restorative Society received Letters of
Patent from the Ontario Ministry of Government Services,
as a not-for-profit corporation on August 24, 2007.
To celebrate its 10th anniversary, the SNS embarked on a 10,000 km. cross-Canada venture in which four wheelchair athletes hand cycled from Victoria, B.C., to St. John's, Newfoundland. This amazing event was called "Wheel to Walk". Since that event, the Spinal Neuro Restorative Society has been soliciting donations to fund medical research under the Wheel to Walk Canada
The Wheel to Walk Canada organization continues to operate the annual Golden Horseshoe Marathon as one of its key fundraising and awareness-building events, in addition to other fundraising initiatives. 100% of all pledges received from the Golden Horseshoe Marathon go directly to the funding of medical research being conducted by the Spinal Neurorestorative Group at McMaster University.