They walked in memory, in celebration and in hope for a cure Sunday morning at Ottawa's Multiple Sclerosis walk.
Over 1,300 participants gathered at Tunney's Pasture for the 20th annual Ottawa walk, which hoped to raise $385,000.
Jacinthe Faucher said her and her friends have been walking the last five years as "The Lady Bugs" for her father, who suffers from the disease.
My dad used to call my sister and I ‘lady bugs' all the time, so we decided that would be fun," she said.
Erin Glazier said she just married her husband with MS, who has been benefitting from an experimental new stem-cell treatment.
"We just celebrated his five-month anniversary, and he's been one year relapse-free which is huge," she said.
Some forms of MS can be treated, but there is still no cure for the autoimmune disease that continuously damages the nerves of the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms vary, from muscle spasms to memory loss, to paralysis.
Eight-year-old Declan Perkins donated $200 of his birthday money to try and find a cure for his aunt's MS.
"I did this so we can put an end to MS and find a cure to this serious disease," he said.
CTV Ottawa's Carol Anne Meehan emceed the event, one of 160 across Canada. Her husband Greg Etue is living with MS.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Melissa Lamb
