30 years of horizon

Hello!

My name is Loryanne Côté. I’m a young teacher passionate about the outdoors who had the misfortune of being diagnosed with cancer at 17, but also the incredible fortune of participating in two expeditions with the On the Tip of the Toes Foundation. This year, I learned that I am completely cured and that my remission is officially over.

You may know me from the Célébrons la Vie events, the documentary La vie devant moi, or my appearance on Tout le monde en parle with André Robitaille, which aimed to shine a light on the documentary and the foundation.

It is with great joy that I’m getting involved in the Foundation’s 30th anniversary because I want its mission to be highlighted so that more young people can have the chance to experience expeditions like the ones I was lucky to live.
Because those expeditions reignited something inside me — something that had gone out during treatment: sparks that looked like passion, like hope, like health, like friendship.
But most of all, those sparks looked like confidence.
Confidence in myself, confidence in life.
For the first time in months — and for some, in years — our group of young people was able to run, to push ourselves physically, to build friendships with others who truly, deeply understood.
For me, for instance, it was during an expedition that I realized I would be able to get back into shape: I had no choice, because I absolutely wanted to live a similar experience in nature again.

The On the Tip of the Toes Foundation truly makes a difference in the lives of young people affected by cancer. To this day, I stay in touch with friends I met on expeditions and I live adventures I would never have dared to attempt if it weren’t for the foundation.
Since being cured, I have traveled through Costa Rican jungles, Portuguese islands, and Hawaiian volcanoes. I completed a four-day self-supported trek across Icelandic glaciers.
I’ve taken up rock climbing, road biking, running, mountain biking, and backcountry skiing.
I owe a generous part of this passion for the outdoors, this confidence in my abilities, and this drive to push my limits to the foundation.

That’s why I’m getting involved — and from the depths of my healed little heart, and on behalf of those who were not as lucky, I sincerely thank the Foundation for existing.