He's biking across the country to raise awareness for Parkinson's — all without leaving his garage

Robert Emberly says he's always been a free spirit.

That didn't change when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2010. 

At the time, the Mount Pearl, N.L., resident worked on the Terra Nova FPSO, which services the Terra Nova oil field, about 350 kilometres off the coast of Newfoundland.

"I started standing on one foot on the moving vessel every day, and I practiced how to ... keep my balance," he said in an interview with The St. John's Morning Show.

Parkinson's affects the nervous system, including movement, balance and speech. 

Losing his sense of balance has made cycling — one of his favourite pastimes — much more difficult, but he was determined to find a way to stay on the saddle.

Emberly announced that he was going to learn to ride a unicycle, an idea quickly shot down by his friends and family. Instead, he decided to repeat a feat he accomplished in the 1970s — cycling across the island of Newfoundland.

This time, though, he did it in his garage, using a homemade stationary bike contraption and an odometer. When he reached that goal, he decided he wasn't done.

"I decided I'm going to try going across Canada," he said.

Fast forward four years later, and Emberly is — virtually — in Langley, British Columbia, with about 80 kilometres to go until he finishes his journey.

He's had setbacks. A surgery put him out of commission for part of the summer, and some days he could only ride for a few minutes before he began feeling fatigued. Still, he pushed on.

"I'd sooner do that than die. You gotta do something in life," he said.

He has Parkinson’s disease, but he’s biking across Canada — from his garage in Mount Pearl

2 months ago

Duration 3:08

Robert Emberly has been living with Parkinson's disease for 15 years. The neurological condition affects your balance, and cycling became hard for the Mount Pearl resident. So Emberly set up a stationary bike — with built-in precautions in his garage — to complete the 7,000-kilometre virtual trek across the country, vowing not to let the disease get the better of him.

3 to 4 year wait for Parkinson's diagnosis in N.L.

According to the Parkinson Society of Newfoundland and Labrador, exercise can help slow the progression of Parkinson's. Derek Staubitzer, the society's executive director, said Emberly is a testament to what Parkinson's patients can accomplish.

"You don't have to give up. You might have Parkinson's but Parkinson's doesn't have to have you," he said.

LISTEN | Robert Emberly has 80 km to go on his virtual cross-Canada bike ride: 

St John's Morning Show6:15Robert Emberly has almost completed a virtual bike ride across Canada

The society facilitates exercise classes and other treatments for people living with the disease. 

Staubitzer said one major hurdle to accessing treatment, though, is getting a diagnosis in the first place.

"We currently have a three- to four-year wait for a diagnosis for Parkinson's," he said. "That is really unacceptable and we're trying to address that to bring that down."

CBC News has asked N.L. Health Services for comment on the wait times.

Staubitzer said those long wait times are happening as more people are being diagnosed with the disease nationally.

"We're seeing that here in Newfoundland and Labrador. The number of calls that we're getting has increased dramatically since I started here 10 years ago," he said.

Emberly wants to increase awareness of the disease and push back against stereotypes.

"Parkinson's is no longer a wait and die disease," he explained. "Younger and younger people are getting it. And these young people are realizing that life isn't over."

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