Arts & Science student, Kira Young, has completed the ride of a lifetime, biking from Stanton Territorial Hospital in her hometown of Yellowknife, NWT to the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton, AB. She rode 1,600km to raise funds to support children with rheumatic diseases and to increase awareness of the realities Northern families face when travelling long distances for specialized care.
These realities are familiar to Kira, who herself became sick at the age of 15 and had to make repeated emergency flights to Edmonton to access healthcare unavailable in the NWT. After 20 days in intensive care, she was finally diagnosed with a rare autoinflammatory disease.
During each trip they made from the Northwest Territories to Alberta to access medical care, Kira and her family experienced many challenges. Being far from home without family and community support made a difficult time that much harder. Needing to travel out of province to access medical care led to delayed diagnosis, difficulties navigating different medical systems, and other logistical challenges.
The idea to retrace the route she travelled for care came to Kira when she was being treated at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton. Recognizing the unique challenges faced by children living with rheumatic diseases in northern, rural, and remote communities across Canada, Kira wanted to make a difference.
In the Fall of 2025, Kira decided to make this idea a reality, working in partnership with a national charity called Cassie + Friends that supports kids and families impacted by rheumatic disease. With Kira’s fundraising support, Cassie + Friends will expand resources into the North to support youth who need to travel long distances for specialized care.
Along with one of Kira’s close friends from Yellowknife, her Arts & Science classmate, Sofia Sikka-Patel, joined her for the ride and was by her side throughout the grueling 10-day journey. The team arrived at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton on Monday 15 June 2026. Over the course of the ride, they met with rural families affected by rheumatic diseases and raised more than $82,000, exceeding their fundraising goal.
“This bike ride has felt like the project of a lifetime,” says Kira. “On a personal level, I love being active and outdoors, and it was really fun to joyfully reclaim a route that has represented hardship in my life. On a community level, I am excited to mobilize these funds, but perhaps more importantly to show rural, remote, and Northern youth, as well as those living with rheumatic diseases that there are people in their corner.”
Today, Kira is a student in the Arts & Science Program with interests in rural, remote, and Northern health systems and wellbeing, a varsity cross country skier on the McMaster Nordic Ski team, and an emergency medical responder with the McMaster Emergency First Response Team.
For more information about Kira’s ride, visit Stanton to the Stollery on the Cassie + Friends website.
Visit the @cafsociety on Instagram to see videos and photos from Kira’s journey.
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