Cancer survivor hitchhikes Canada, raises $109,000

Quinn Strang survived stage four cancer twice — first at 15 with only a 15 per cent chance to live, then again at 17. Now 20, he hitchhiked across Canada to turn that survival into something bigger.

Strang started his journey on May 17, inspired by his uncle's hitchhiking stories, Terry Fox's iconic run, and his own battle with Ewing sarcoma, a tumour that spread from his femur to his lungs and lymph nodes. A femur transplant meant he couldn't run — so he chose the road instead.

By day 12, he'd reached Toronto and already raised about $40,000. By the end, he'd collected over $100,000, which he split between the Terry Fox Foundation and the IWK Foundation to support other kids fighting cancer.

Strang didn't travel alone. Friends and family across the country opened their doors, and sometimes strangers did too. A Russian truck driver brought him 10 hours from New Brunswick to Montreal, then took him sightseeing in Quebec City. "This guy didn't have to do any of that for me," Strang recalled.

Despite his health battle, Strang made valedictorian of his high school class while in and out of hospitals. He's now working as a lifeguard at a water park in Atlantic Canada and heading to New Brunswick Community College in the fall to study social services.

Strang was clear about his mission: "I'm doing my own spin on it. I don't want to touch that or ruin any legacy because Terry Fox is the greatest Canadian of all time." A 20-year-old who beat the odds twice and chose to lift others along the way.