Stephe Lawson (Christie N Stephe Lawson) is one of the long-term COVID-19 survivors who we have all heard about but few have met. Two years ago, Stephe contracted the Coronavirus at work, and for the 24 months to follow, and considerable time still to come, he has been battling the effects of the infection. Once a very healthy man who worked all day on his feet, now Stephe needs to carry oxygen, and he struggles to do many of life's most common tasks.

We met Stephe and his wife Christie back in late 2020 when they took part in our video "The COVID-19 Pandemic - Our Homefront Battle - Barrie and Simcoe County, 2021" found at https://www.fivepointsmedia.ca/the-covid-19-pandemic-our-homefront-battle-2021.html. So, when he told us about his intention to raise money for the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre Foundation through a sponsored walk as a way of saying thank you, we were very happy to help.

Sadly, in a two-week period, our Producer, John Ironside, lost a neighbour and friend due to illegal rental arrangements demanded by a slumlord, and then our Associate Producer, Tiffany Scott, lost her mother to a long-term battle with cancer. The funeral for the former and mourning for the latter left us unable to cover the entire event.

We were able to record an interview with Stephe and with Mayor Jeff Lehman, and thankfully, Stephe and his supporters provided us with pictures of the event for us to share. Our sincerest thanks to all of them.

We would like to thank the following sponsors of the Ontario Community Awareness Network. These businesses show they care about our shared community by helping us to provide a not-for-profit truly local voice to you and your neighbours. They also enable our crew to be able to continue providing donated services to promote local benevolent community groups and charities based in The City of Barrie, the Town of Innisfil, and the Township of Oro-Medonte.

Assisting You Social - Social Media Management

Backcountry K9 Kennel - Day Care, Overnight, and Grooming

Beauty & Babes - Salon and Spa

Checkered Door - Transition to Adult ASD

Enterprise Mechanical Inc. - Heating and Air Conditioning

Family TLC - Family Counselling and Therapy

Growing Minds Learning Centre - Daycare Centre

Hwear Plus/Canadian Toggle - Personal Protection

Imagine Laserworks Barrie - Laser Acupuncture Services

Latchman Insurance Brokers Limited - Providing All Types

Michael Enterprise Audio & Visual

Northlink General Contracting

Theatre By The Bay - Live Performances

3B Solutions - Video and Media

Videography and Post-production by John Ironside

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