WATCH: 11-year-old Sylas Thompson began taking a polar bear swim every day on February 1st. Now he’s raised about $23,000 for two local charities. But he still has ways to go.
For 26 straight days, 11-year-old Sylas Thompson of Campbell River and a growing group of supporters have been showing up at a beach on Tyee Spit, doing what some many people would never try in a lifetime, taking a swim in the cold waters of Johnson Strait.
He will keep doing it every day until he raises $30,000 for two local charities, no matter the weather.
On Tuesday it may have looked springlike but it was a chilly combination. An air temperature of 5 c and a water temperature of 7.5 c.
“One day I had the flu actually and it was really bad and I’m like I didn’t want to do it at all but I just walked in, dunked and came right back out and went straight home. I made a commitment and I have to stick to my word,” said Thompson.
So far he’s raised $23,000 for two organizations in the city that help vulnerable members of the community, The Campbell River Women’s Resource Centre and Grassroots Kind Hearts.
“We always need money, I think every nonprofit need that in order to sustain themselves and we can’t actually believe what a commitment he’s made and followed through on every single day,” said Diane Palmer of Grassroots Kind Hearts.
“I think it’s absolutely incredible and I’m so proud of that young man that I don’t even know,” added Darcy Murray of Grassroots Kind Hearts.
A link to Sylas’ GoFundMe page can be found here.
Dean Stoltz
