Grief, gratitude, giving: How a father’s cancer journey is helping others
Patient Story
Mark Morrison was devastated when a rare terminal cancer took his father, Charles, in May 2024.
The family had been hoping for the best while preparing for the worst. But Charles' death, only five months after his diagnosis at Waterloo Regional Health Network (WRHN), felt so sudden and unfair.
And it left a hole in Mark’s life like nothing he’d experienced before.
“I didn’t know how to process the grief and I kept thinking: ‘how would Dad want me to handle this?’” Mark says.
The more I thought, the clearer the answer became: he would want me to help people.
The first step on a long run
Mark decided to honour his father’s legacy with a solo fundraising run for the WRHN Cancer Centre on July 24 – what would have been Charles’ 74th birthday.
He started spreading the word and soon, donations poured in from family, friends, and colleagues. Even people who never met Mark but who knew his dad showed their support, sharing stories of Charles along with their generosity.
Under the hot midday sun, Mark ran 10 kilometres from the Stork Family YMCA in Waterloo, to the A.R. Kaufman Family YMCA in Kitchener, where Charles had long volunteered.
The run, a physical and emotional journey for Mark, raised $16,050 dollars – more than double his original fundraising goal of $7,000 for a chemotherapy chair.
Doing this run showed me that people remember my dad. But it also showed me that people believe in community. They believe in giving back. And that’s exactly the kind of legacy my Dad would have wanted to leave behind.
The care next door
While the idea for Mark’s fundraiser was rooted in grief, it blossomed from a deep sense of gratitude for the care Charles received at WRHN, including four rounds of radiation and six rounds of chemotherapy.
Mark accompanied his father on many of those appointments at WRHN @ Midtown – the hub of the Waterloo Wellington Regional Cancer Program – and was touched by the way staff treated his dad with dignity and respect.
At one chemo session, my dad turned to me and said: 'We're so fortunate we get to come here. Lots of people don't get to live so close to an amazing place like this.'
Charles, a well-known family lawyer and small claims court judge with strong ties to his community, was a loving husband to Carey, his wife of 43 years, and devoted father to Mark and his two sisters.
Remembering Charles
Hours after his run, Mark gathered with family at his parents’ home for a quiet birthday dinner in Charles’ honour.
While the money he raised will help countless cancer patients across Waterloo and Wellington counties, Mark doesn’t want credit for the fundraiser he started.
While the money he raised will help countless cancer patients across Waterloo and Wellington counties, Mark doesn’t want credit for the fundraiser he started.
“This story isn't about me,” he says.
It's about hopefully making things a little easier for the next cancer patient in our community. And in doing that, I feel like Dad’s still here – living on in the people we’re helping.
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