Chad Cieslik walked the walk to help others
‘Spectacular human being’ was a familiar face in fundraising walks across the country
Chester (Chad) Cieslik is being remembered as a “spectacular human being” who might be dubbed the king of the walk-athon.
The Stoney Creek resident — who died of a heart attack at age 68 on Jan. 23 — was a familiar face in fundraising walks across the country, from Vancouver to Halifax and including one for the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto.
He co-founded the Butterfly of Hope in 2010 to raise money for cancer research and other diseases, and teams have since raised more than $2.6 million to fund research and patient support.
By his own account in 2017, he took part in 103 fundraising events.
His last was in June of that year when he walked 1,000 kilometres across Ontario to raise $6,500 for the Alzheimer’s Society — he used an Alinker R-volution, a nonmotorized three-wheel walking bike.
He undertook the journey because his mother had dementia before she died in 2015, and it saw him go from South Glengarry — near the Quebec border — to Stoney Creek.
Friend Diana Fuller on the website of J.J. Patterson and Sons funeral home — which handled Cieslik’s funeral — called him “a spectacular human being” and Paula Anderson of Team BC Breast Friends in Campbell River said he was a dedicated and compassionate man.
“Chad Cieslik was an amazing guy,” wrote Nicole McKay.
“I got the privilege to meet him in 2014 when I did my first relay with the Butterfly of Hope team. I have been part of this amazing team since and this year will be no different ... Even though Chad can’t walk this relay with us, I know he will be flying high with us.”
In 2008, Cieslik flew between Toronto and Vancouver one weekend to take part in the annual Weekend to End
Breast Cancer walks.
He walked 32 kilometres in Toronto then 25 kilometres in Vancouver — and then stretched the fundraising to 120 kilometres by walking on a couple of treadmills.
“The most challenging part is, obviously, the constant walking,” the consultant/appraiser told The Spectator after he completed the three days of walking and flying.
“It does take a little beating on the feet, but it’s also the emotional aspect that you get when you are at these events. The people you meet, the stories you hear.”
But such a circumstance was old hat for Cieslik. He also took part in cancer walks in Ottawa, Halifax, Winnipeg, Edmonton and other cities through the years.
Cieslik began taking part in the walks in 2003, getting inspiration from the cancer battle of his former mother-in-law.
In 2009, the Globe and Mail did a story on Cieslik and his walks and said, at that time, he had raised $210,000 and logged more than 2,000 kilometres.
The story came after he received terrible news from his Hamilton doctor that he had lung cancer, stage 2. He showed up in May of that year to take part once again in the annual walk to raise funds for Princess Margaret Hospital.
“It was a tough decision to actually do the walks this year,” Cieslik told the Globe, noting he had already done five despite a taxing course of radiation treatment and chemotherapy.
“The doctor said, ‘Have you got a death wish?’ and I said, ‘Not really; I have a wish to live, and if I have to walk one more kilometre and I have to raise one more dollar, and it gives me one more day to live, so be it.”
The hospital heralded Cieslik’s support in January, 2013 after he walked for 60 kilometres on a treadmill in a Toronto drugstore to mark Wear it Pink Day. The pink-clad Cieslik began at 7 a.m. and finished at 8 p.m.
“A lot of wonderful people do a lot of wonderful things in the name of supporting worthy causes, and then there is Chad Cieslik,” the hospital said.
Cieslik was also a manager and coach with the Stoney Creek Minor Hockey Association and the Stoney Creek Women’s Hockey League. He was named Stoney Creek’s Citizen of the Year in 2014.
Cieslik is survived by his sister Viesia, four nieces and his companion Nancy and her two children.