66 km for #66: Owen Sound man honours fallen K-W Siskins hockey player with charity run

An Owen Sound man has set up a 66 kilometre run in memory of his friend, a Kitchener-Waterloo Siskins hockey player who died suddenly last July.

Jesse Walker said his childhood friend, 18-year-old Tyson Downs, was always there when he needed him, so when he learned that Downs had died of a genetic heart condition, he did what he always does. 

He set up a run to raise money.

"After beating cancer five years ago, the year following I started doing runs," said Walker. "I've run two half marathons, one Olympic-size triathlon, and a full marathon."

Since he started four years ago, Walker has raised over $100,000 for childhood cancer research.

"I just thought this year, since Tyson passed away, it would be nice to do that same thing but for a different cause. In honour of Tyson."

"I figured, why don't we push ourselves to do 66 kilometres as a group," said Walker, adding that Downs wore the number 66 on the back of his K-W Siskins jersey.

Walker will run 21 kilometres — the equivalent of a half-marathon. Another of Downs' childhood friends will also run 21 kilometres, and the rest will be broken up among other supporters who will each run three to five kilometre stretches. 

Any money raised by Walker's run will go to the Inherited Arrhythmia and Cardiomyopathy program at Toronto General Hospital. That's where Downs' family learned his death was caused by a genetic heart condition. 

Dr. Michael Gollob is a professor of medicine and physiology at the University of Toronto and practices at Toronto General Hospital. He said that deaths like Downs' are nearly impossible to predict.

"This was a young man who epitomized health. Physically active, excelled academically. No clues or warning signs that he may harbour a genetic risk of sudden death."

Gollob said his niche research program sees about a dozen families just like Downs' who come in after suddenly losing a child.

"We're one of the few research teams across the country. And in fact, there's very few around the world," Gollob said. "Twenty years ago when these events occurred, we were left baffled and could never explain the causes."

Gollob said that funding has allowed for the research to move quickly, where they're able to identify 20 to 25 per cent of these events and know exactly what the genetic predisposition was. He said they can now use that information to screen the family members who may carry the same conditions, developing preventative options.