Simeon King’s inspiring dream
On August 24 2025, Mt. A student, Simeon King, crossed the finish line of his cycling trip across Canada that raised over $112000 for type 1 diabetes. The journey had taken over a year to plan and three months to complete from coast to coast. The dream, however, had been in motion for three years.
Simeon King is from Alberta, Canada, and is now a fourth-year bachelor of science and aviation student at Mt. A. This past summer, King organized and led a fundraising event to raise money and awareness for people with type 1 diabetes. It had been eleven years since King himself was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, where he was told he would never be able to become a commercial pilot due to the condition. Since then, King has had a dream to help and inspire others with type 1 diabetes, and he accomplished it by cycling across the country.
The original goal of King’s dream was to raise $100,000 to donate to the organisation I Challenge Diabetes. The charity helps connect and support people with type 1 diabetes, and King has been connected with them for four years, helping out through sports camps, outdoor trips, and other similar activities. The money he raised went towards these programs for youth, funding two years of programs for people who would have not had the opportunity.
The idea to raise money through cycling came to King three years ago, and has been under way since. His journey kicked off about a year and a half before the cycling itself began, where King organized the logistics, sponsorships, and connections for events hosted across Canada. There were two main goals for the fundraiser: raising money and awareness, and organizing events to connect people with type 1 diabetes.
The cycling itself started on May 30 in Victoria, B.C., where King cycled over 6850 kilometres to St John’s, Nfld., over the course of 85 days. It was a solo trip, where King made his own daily food and shelter. In an interview with The Argosy, King said there were “days where [he’d] spend twelve to eighteen hours on [his] bike, dealing with all the weather that Canada has to throw at [him]”. The days of cycling were interspersed with in-person events that he had planned earlier in the year, making it a busy and tight schedule that ended on August 25 in St. John’s.
The events King organized spanned across major cities, including Vancouver, Kelowna, Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Markham, Montreal, Charlottetown, and St John’s. Community members would bring together charities in the area and greet King, having an opportunity to connect and share meaningful stories with King and fellow community members, bonding over shared challenges, strengths and experiences. Most notably, the mayor of Markham, Ont., attended the event hosted there, and a representative of the Canadian Federal Legislature came and spoke on behalf of the government to recognize King and the events being put on. King said “the actual riding of the bike… was only a fraction of the work” compared to the “hundreds and hundreds of hours put into planning.” The coordination of people, sourcing venues for each stop, and locating sponsorships and corporations, are only some parts of the work that King put into his campaign. The effort was worth it. Major partners included Diabetes Express and Bayshore Healthcare, who helped King’s dream come to life through their sponsorships and support.
Simeon King’s story brought awareness to around 30 000 Canadians. This was done through the people who donated, as well as those who attended the events over the summer. King said he wanted this journey to show people “anything we believe we can do and set our minds to, we can accomplish.” His dream of helping people with type 1 diabetes had come to fruition through his hard work, determination, and the support of the communities around him. After completing his cycling over the summer, King will continue to inspire communities as he works towards becoming the first person with type 1 diabetes in Canada to ever become a commercial pilot.
For now, King wants to continue his journey of helping others, and finding new ways to support his community. He hopes that his story will inspire other people, especially those struggling with chronic illness, to be the next person to accomplish incredible dreams.