A MESSAGE
FROM JESSE

Although Jesse never played on a hockey team or a baseball team and never rode a bicycle—he was a real change maker.

From a very young age, Jesse understood the value of research. His courage and determination on ‘the road’ through Jesse’s Journey, and his dedication to research throughout his life, raised the public’s awareness of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

The little father-and-son project that has brought hope to families where there was no hope—has now raised more than thirty-million dollars to fund research and to provide help today for the boys and their families living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Jesse’s Journey

has grown to become Defeat Duchenne Canada. We are now a “Family of families” uniting Duchenne families from coast-to-coast-to-coast, and the Northwest Territories. We have now funded more than 100 peer reviewed major research projects across Canada and in 16 other countries around the world. More than 20-million dollars in funding has been granted from the Jesse Davidson Endowment.

It seems fitting that the young man whose legacy continues to make a difference for others should have the last word…

It seems fitting that the young man whose legacy continues to make a difference for others should have the last word….

FOLLOW THE JOURNEY THAT STARTED IT ALL

This is a truly Canadian story. It was an immense undertaking for a 15-year-old boy in a wheelchair.

For Jesse Davidson the wheelchair push across Ontario that became known across the country as “Jesse’s Journey” began at the Ontario-Manitoba border—more than a month before most kids finished their school year. Spanning the entire summer holiday—it concluded in Ottawa more than a month after most kids returned to school in the fall.

For 124 consecutive days in the blistering hot summer of 1995—Jesse Davidson gave his all in support of research into finding a cure for a disease most people had never head of—Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Jesse never asked to be in the spotlight. He just tried to do his best each and every day.

What follows is his story of courage and grit.  Thank you for taking the time to become a part of the story because—the journey continues…..