It was shortly after the passing of her mom when Trudy Wilson’s tears got lost in Ontario’s Trent-Severn Waterway.
Head down in the chilly water swimming near Port Severn, Ontario, she remembers the anguish she felt with each passing stroke as visions of her mom would creep into her mind.
“My goggles would fill up with tears sometimes,” said the 46-year-old REALTOR® with RE/MAX Eastern Realty. “No one knew I was hurting.”
If the first week was taking this much of a toll on her, how could she manage to do this every day for the next three months?
But this was her idea. She had been talking for years about doing something special in honour of her late daughter, Lauren Taylor Wilson, who died two days after being born on May 15, 1998. She wanted to do this for SickKids Hospital, to express her thanks for the care staff provided the family during that challenging and life-altering time.
Ten kilometres of swimming each day. All summer. In honour of her late daughter on the heels of her mother’s death.
Suddenly, the 386-kilometre marathon swim to the shores of Lake Ontario in Trenton wasn’t just a physical battle, but a mental one too.
“It’s when I’m really having to push myself on some of the more difficult stretches when I begin thinking, ‘Suck it up, buttercup. This is nothing compared to what some of the kids at SickKids are going through in hopes of their lives being saved.’”
Last year, Wilson made a $25,000 pledge to the SickKids Foundation for medical research, education and patient care. To help raise that money, she wanted to do something spectacular. With special permission from Parks Canada to swim the channels of the Trent-Severn Waterway, she began the process of coordinating the swim.
Inspired by fellow REALTOR® Bruce Johnson and his 2013 Motorcycle for Miracles ride from Wasaga Beach, Ontario, to Costa Rica, Wilson began coordinating the summer of swimming.
“He actually suggested I start on my daughter’s birthday, May 15. She would have been 18,” Wilson solemnly said.
With water temperatures hovering around 2 degrees Celsius, a “dipping of the toes” ceremony was held in Port Severn that day. She wasn’t able to officially begin the swim until the water warmed up and the current wasn’t as vicious.
As of yesterday, 230 km completed. By the end of today, 242.6 km. Should have the whole 387.1 km done in the next three weeks. #miracleswim
— Trudy Wilson (@TrudyCWilson) September 1, 2016
On June 20, Wilson set out.
Two days later, she had to bury her mom.
“My mom wouldn’t have wanted to be the reason we didn’t start,” Wilson said.
So she began swimming to little fanfare, with no prior training except being a competitive swimmer in high school. Her support system consisted of fellow RE/MAX REALTOR® Elizabeth Stokes Weber who would follow her a few days a week in a kayak.
Realizing she would never make it if she could only swim five to six kilometres a day, three times a week, she recruited more helpers. RE/MAX REALTOR® Pat Mahoney and his wife Debbie helped chaperone. RE/MAX REALTOR® Bill Wolff got on board and offered to drive a boat alongside her in larger bodies of water. She was now swimming 12 kilometres a day for six hours straight.
Suddenly media was picking up the story of Wilson’s swim and by the time she swam through her hometown of Bridgenorth, Ontario, crowds would come out to cheer her on and donate to the Lauren Taylor Wilson fund.
By the beginning of September, more than $18,000 of her $25,000 pledge had been raised.
“As I got to Bobcaygeon, it was really a turning point. I swam by a houseboat and people on board had signs made up for me. The mayor of Selwyn was on the beach with all these camp kids and that was so encouraging. I never got that in my early days,” Wilson told the Canadian REALTORS Care® Foundation shortly after going through the famous Peterborough locks in a canoe (it was the only place Wilson wasn’t permitted to swim through).
#YMCA #Lakefield #daycamp chanted Trudy! Trudy! Trudy!…. @TrudyCWilson as she swims south on @TrentSevernNHS pic.twitter.com/eyeI6gNflA
— Mayor Mary Smith (@MayorMarySmith) August 31, 2016
Considering the mother of five children has never done anything of this magnitude before in her life, Wilson said she wants to inspire others to challenge themselves for whatever cause or charity they believe in.
“The people in the community are appreciative of what I’m doing. They know me as the REALTOR® with her face in the paper each week, so I just wanted to use this platform I have to do good things.”
She said she plans on finishing the swim in mid-September
Click here to donate to the Lauren Taylor Wilson fund and support Trudy’s swim. All money raised goes to the fund directly. Travel and accommodation is paid out of pocket by Wilson.
I think it wld be insanely amazing if @TheEllenShow came 2 my #miracleswim & chanted ‘just keeping swimming’ at me pic.twitter.com/xPpN8LXHPW
— Trudy Wilson (@TrudyCWilson) June 10, 2016
