Canadian Skier Alexandre Bilodeau Donates $25,000 to the Canadian Association of Pediatric Health Centers to fund Cerebral Palsy Research

Frédéric Bilodeau (left) celebrates with his brother Alexandre Bilodeau after winning gold.
(Photo credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Francois Roy, file photo at Mont-Gabriel in Ste-Adele, Que.)

For most Canadians, Alexandre Bilodeau’s gold medal run in the Men’s Freestyle Moguls Olympic event on February 14 was nothing short of sweet bliss. For the Cerebral Palsy (CP) community, the moment meant something more, because it shined a light on people with disabilities living a life without limits.

When Alexandre captured Canada’s first winter gold on home soil, he unabashedly dedicated his win to his older brother Frédéric who has CP. The gold medalist continued his support by announcing a donation of $25,000 to the Canadian Association of Pediatric Health Centers to fund future research into CP.

Born with CP, Alexandre's older brother Frédéric was told by doctors from an early age that he would be confined to a wheelchair for life. Despite that, Frédéric persevered and proved them wrong. At the age of 28, he is still walking, skiing and living a life without limits.

The Cerebral Palsy Association of British Columbia (CPA-BC), an affiliate of UCP, joins all of Canada in congratulating Alexandre Bilodeau, Canada’s first Olympic athlete to win Gold on Canadian soil. Craig Langston, CPA-BC president states, “People who have cerebral palsy are just like people who don’t have cerebral palsy in many ways – we might be lucky enough to have Olympic champions for brothers and sisters, and we might be Olympic champions ourselves.”

CTV conducted a special interview with Alexandre that gives an intimate glance into the lives of the Bilodeau brothers. During the interview, Alexandre states, “[Frédéric's] 28, and he still walks, so where’s the limit for each of us? If his limit was at 10 and he’s 28 and he’s still walking, nobody’s going to tell me what my limit is.”

To view the full interview video, please visit http://www.ctvolympics.ca/video/index.html and enter “Difference makers with Rick Hansen: Alexandre Bilodeau.”

To read more, the Canadian Press story is available online at http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5iuBQ5od0IoYKyg_Q0mLS9O3qcRMQ.