The man walking across the country in hopes of raising enough money to cure Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy says support in the region has been phenomenal.

“Grandpa” Bob Facca will be making his way though Leamington and Kingsville today. The 65-year-old is walking 20km a day to raise money for the disease which his grandson Louie suffers from.

“People come off the highway to give us money, they put money in our buckets, they bring food to us and they give us so many words of encouragement,” says Facca, who has raised $525,000 to date. “Whatever we get, it’s phenomenal. We’re doing well, but researchers will always need money and we’ll always need money. We have some researchers in Ohio, London, Britain, it’s not a border thing, we’re trying to find the best researchers.”

Facca plans to end his walk in Winnipeg come December. This marks his 98th day on the road, after he started walking on May 20.