Hi, I’m Lisa, Walter’s wife, and I want to raise money to help give him the care, comfort and support he needs and deserves.

If you know Walter, you know that asking for help is probably the last thing he would ever do.

Walter has always been wildly independent. He is the person who would drop whatever he was doing to help a friend, a family member, or even someone he barely knew. If someone needed something, Walter was there — often before they even had to ask.

He has always been a friend to all, someone who gives freely of his time, his energy and his heart. Helping others and giving back has simply been part of who he is.

And now, for the first time in his life, Walter is the one who needs help.

In October 2025, our lives changed forever when Walter was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive and unpredictable form of brain cancer.

Within four days of his diagnosis, he underwent surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible. Unfortunately, because of where the tumour was located, it wasn't possible to remove all of it. He then spent two weeks in rehabilitation working on his cognitive and physical abilities before beginning radiation and being accepted into a clinical trial.

Despite everything, Walter kept moving forward.

To date, his tumour has remained stable, but glioblastoma is unpredictable, and the disease and treatment have brought many difficult side effects.

For a while, Walter was doing fairly well. Then, in June, he suffered a significant fall that had a major impact on his ability to stand and walk. Following the fall, he was unable to stand or walk unaided. Thankfully, he was slowly regaining some of those abilities and we were hopeful that, with time and therapy, he would continue to improve.

Then, in August, we faced another terrifying setback.

Walter was rushed to the emergency department, where we discovered that he had recently suffered a small stroke, as well as having five very large and dangerous pulmonary embolisms in his lungs, putting tremendous pressure on his heart. He also has a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in his right leg — the same leg that had become so weak following his fall.

He spent three weeks in hospital. When Walter came home, he was no longer able to stand or walk, he cannot currently use his right arm at all,and has limited movement and strength in his right leg. He has now spent another three weeks largely confined to bed, with physiotherapy coming to our home twice a week.

For someone as fiercely independent as Walter, this has been incredibly difficult.

Our goal isn't simply to get through this.Our goal is to give Walter every opportunity to be comfortable, safe, cared for and, hopefully, to regain as much independence as possible.

To do that, we need equipment and support that will allow us to safely care for him at home, including:

• A hospital bed

• A sit-to-stand support apparatus

• Potentially a Hoyer lift

• A wheelchair ramp

• A stair lift

• A wheelchair

• Additional private care and physiotherapy

• Transportation to his medical appointments

The wheelchair will be the only one of these major expenses covered by government assistance and private insurance.

Even getting Walter to his appointments is a significant expense. Because he cannot currently transfer or walk, he requires private wheelchair transportation. One round trip to Princess Margaret Hospital costs approximately $300, and these trips are required once or twice a month, in addition to his other medical appointments.

And financially, this has become extremely difficult.

I am currently unable to work and am on disability, while Walter is self-employed and has no employment income.

I have wrestled with starting a GoFundMe for a long time. In fact, my pride is probably the biggest reason I waited this long.

Walter and I have always tried to take care of ourselves. We aren't people who are comfortable asking others for help.

But I have come to realize that accepting help isn't a sign of weakness.

It's giving Walter the opportunity to have the support he needs.

The man who has spent his life helping everyone else now needs us to help him.

Every contribution will go toward the equipment, therapy, care and transportation that can make Walter's life safer, more comfortable and more fulfilling — and hopefully give him the best chance possible to regain some of the independence that means so much to him.

If you can't contribute financially, sharing this fundraiser is an enormous help and would mean more to us than you know.

I never imagined I would be writing a post like this. And Walter certainly never imagined he would be the one needing to ask.

But right now, we need our people. ❤️

Thank you for reading Walter's story, for caring about him, and for helping us give him the support he deserves.

With love and gratitude,

Lisa & Walter ❤️