A Kelowna girl completed a swim across the English Channel on Saturday (July 15) to raise funds for Canuck Place, which has a location in Abbotsford.
Emily completed her swim in 11 hours and 57 minutes.
Everything went well, said social media organizer and Kelowna Aquajets coach Thomas Robinson, adding at one point was stung by a jellyfish but it wasn’t concerning.
The teen wanted to raise money for Canuck Place, a children’s hospice that has been an important place for the Epp family.
Emily’s mother Cheryl Epp said they started receiving care there about five years ago for their daughter Elan, who lost all of her motor control following a viral infection when she was 18 months old.
“Elan was pretty sick at that point,” she said of her middle daughter, who is now 15. “We were having a lot of issues with pain management and feeding. And really just helping her to have the best quality of life that she can have.”
Epp said the program has improved Elan’s life dramatically.
Emily prepared for her 32-kilometre swim across the English Channel by continuously swimming about 30 kilometres around Bowen Island in the frigid waters of Howe Sound in June.
Support the journey by donating to Emily’s Eppic Swim.
