A vacation to Hawaii turned from paradise to pain for North Vancouver's Mireille Larosa, but she's hoping her upcoming journey, which sees her cycle across much of British Columbia for a fundraiser, will have a much happier ending.
Larosa's Tour de Canuck Place sees her travel from Vancouver, through Vancouver Island and then all the way to Chilliwack from Sept. 1 to 5. She will then continue cycling from Cranbrook all the way to Canuck Place Abbotsford's Dave Lede House from Sept. 6 to 14.
The two-week fundraiser is aiming to raise $100,000 for Canuck Place and also raise awareness for the organization.
Her passion for Canuck Place stems from the care she received during her son Charles Archambault's battle after receiving a diagnosis of Alper鈥檚 Syndrome 鈥� a rare and incurable mitochondrial disorder.
While visiting Hawaii in January of 2017, her seven-month-old child experienced a seizure lasting 30 minutes. He was treated at a hospital in Hawaii while on vacation and for the rest of his short life he was in and out of local hospitals. Following the diagnosis he was transferred to Canuck Place, where he lived out the rest of his days. Charles passed away due to the disease on Aug. 30, 2017 鈥� his life lasted just under 15 months.
Larosa said she was completely unaware of the work Canuck Place did before her son went there. Part of her fundraiser is to raise awareness about the work they do and thank them for helping her through a challenging time.
"I quickly learned how instrumental they would be in helping us," she said. "Simply put, they think of everything."
She explained that they would help administer medication, give her other children activities to do when they were on-site and allow her a break. Larosa said she completely trusted staff to care for him.
"Without them I know that Charles would have had a much more difficult and much shorter life," she said.
She stated that staff at Canuck Place also helped prepare for, and then deal with, the loss of her child. Larosa said that her son's short life didn't mean a lack of care from anyone involved.
"It was very difficult because you barely have time to even know them," she said. "There's a moment when staff asks you that question of what are you going to do when your child passes away. You don't even want to think about that, but that is the support they give and they give you the space to think about that. They help you be at peace with any decision you make and every answer they give you is perfect."
Larosa shared that she has two other healthy sons 鈥� William, who was born before Charles, and Theodore, who was born after. She said Charles is still on their mind and she still thinks about him often.
"Theodore, who never met Charles, sometimes tells me that he misses Charles," she said. "He's still very much a part of our family. I still remember him in my arms, he spent his entire life in my arms and that's how I remember him. We still have photos and items of his so he is always there."
Another notable supporter of Larosa's journey is her employer Axis Insurance. They are her presenting sponsor and also allowing her time off work to complete the journey. She said she will be setting up a live stream on Twitch to document her trip and encourages people to follow along and even cheer her on as she makes her way through the province. Stops on the two-week tour include: Vancouver, Earl's Cove, Nanoose Bay, Victoria, Surrey, Chilliwack, Cranbrook, Creston, Nelson, Castlegar, Greenwood, Penticton, Vernon, Kamloops, Merritt and Abbotsford.
Larosa admitted that she's not an athlete and only really took up cycling a few years ago, but that she's confident she can handle the physical challenges that she will face on the journey.
Ultimately, she said she wants families who are in a tough situation like hers to learn more about Canuck Place and utilize all they have to offer.
"My deep hope for this tour is to connect communities," she said. "If I can allow one family or even one child to discover Canuck Place then I have reached my goal and I can go to my grave as a happy person."
For more information on the fundraiser, visit
