Photo credit: Peter Goodale
Bicycles mean a lot to children. The freedom you feel when all your mobility skills click and you ride away from your trusted teacher for the first time is one of the first true feelings of independence.
This feeling is even more magnified when you lose one of your legs as a child.
Joe Robichaud was just like any other ten-year-old in Halifax in 1961, running around with friends and enjoying all kinds of play. But a nagging hip pain led him to the city’s then-Children’s Hospital where the momentum of his childhood would change.
“An x-ray of my hip found a benign tumor. This led to several surgeries over the next couple of years to remove it. There was no indication that it was an osteosarcoma or a cancerous tumor. It was simply a growth in the bone that had to be removed.”
The surgeries to remove the tumor did allow Joe to return to school and regular activities, though the pain in his hip never went away. What doctors didn’t know was the trouble brewing within Joe’s bones.
“No one at the time could have predicted the catastrophic failure of that joint was going to happen. It was December 1962, just before Christmas. I got up out of bed, got back into my bed and then, my leg bone shattered — it was excruciating pain.”
The shattering of Joe’s leg and femur were the result of osteosarcoma, a bone cancer. As chemotherapy and radiation therapy were still new healthcare options in Halifax, the only option Joe’s medical team recommended to treat the cancer was to have a hemipelvectomy to remove a portion of his pelvis and the entire leg. Once healed, Joe headed to Montreal to be fitted with a prosthetic leg and then returned home to tackle the challenge of learning to walk again and living his new norm.
“I was in grade seven, learning to walk using my prosthetic and a cane. It wasn’t easy. I don’t think the “C-word”, cancer, was ever used. And at 12-years-old, you can’t really comprehend the enormity of what’s happening — that it’s something that’s going to affect you for your entire life.”
Not only was he battling the physical challenges of losing a limb, but the challenges of planning a future. Joe forged his path, becoming a professional photographer but still finding time to give back to charitable causes, organizing a fundraising walk around the Cabot Trail and raising funds to gift children with disabilities customized bicycles so they could be just like any other kid.
Participating in BMO Ride for Cancer with his team Colleen’s Cuties is a continuation of Joe’s drive to make things better for those fighting the disease.
“Yes, I want to raise funds and support cancer care here, but I’m also hoping that by participating, that it may help others to see beyond limitations. The only limitations that we have are the ones that we put on ourselves. Being able to ride on my recumbent bike gives me a sense of independence and freedom that I can’t feel any other way. In that moment you are equal with everyone else, proving that you don’t need a full complement of arms and legs to be complete.”
On October 3rd, Joe and the rest of Colleen’s Cuties will be participating in the BMO Ride for Cancer – The Grand Finale. Joe will be tackling the 50 kilometre-challenge. Joe notes that while he is taking part in raising funds for cancer care at the QEII Health Sciences Centre, he hopes people take part as a personal challenge.
Caption: Joe and other members of Colleen’s Cuties pose for photo at BMO Ride for Cancer Fundraiser held at Colleen’s Pub.
“I don’t know anyone who hasn’t dealt with cancer, either personally or with a loved one. They might consider getting involved to make a difference, to help others, in memory of those who we’ve lost and in support of those who are going through treatment now. There is a sense of accomplishment, a sense of doing something for others while helping others.”
“One of my favourite quotes is ‘As I look back in the struggles, the triumphs, the challenges, and victories, I do so with a deep sense of purpose, meaning, and gratitude for every step taken along the way for having beaten the odds’. I hope that by sharing my story, I can inspire others to see beyond limitations, to find beauty in their own journeys, and to discover strength in vulnerability.”
Register now for the 2026 BMO Ride for Cancer – The Grand Finale event, taking place on Saturday, October 3, 2026. To donate to a team, like Colleen’s Cuties, click here.
Proudly hosted by the QEII Foundation, BMO Ride for Cancer is one of Canada’s top five peer-to-peer cycling events. Since 2015, our BMO Ride for Cancer community has raised over $15 million net (and counting!) to fund cancer-fighting technology, equipment and spaces at the QEII Health Sciences Centre.
