Since 2023, ALS Canada and the Kevin Daly Bursary Fund have sought to support post-secondary students with a personal connection to ALS in their academic pursuits while experiencing the hurdles of financial burden and responsibilities of being a caregiver. In 2024, the second year of the ALS Canada Kevin Daly Bursary, four students were each awarded $2,500 to support their studies for the 2024-2025 academic year. This year’s recipients, Emma Heaney, Tristan Hopkins, Alexandra McLaren, and Zachary Wood have demonstrated exceptional dedication to advancing the care and treatment of people living with ALS through their involvement in community fundraising events, awareness building, and volunteering.  

 

Meet the recipients of the 2024 ALS Canada Kevin Daly Bursary 

For Emma Heaney, 23, her father, who has lived with ALS for more than 14 years, is the driving force for starting her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. “Throughout my career as an occupational therapist, I want to help people with ALS and their families in the same way others in this field have done for my dad and my family. I know that my personal experiences will help me to make a positive impact on the ALS community. I am proud to represent my dad, Brian, through receiving this award,” says Emma. “And I am committed to a world free of ALS.”  

The financial and legal planning aspects that come with navigating ALS don’t only fall on the shoulders of the individuals living with the diagnosis – it is often a process that touches many loved ones. Tristan Hopkins, 24, was inspired to pursue a career in law to help other families in need of end-of-life legal aid by focusing on wills and estates after helping his father, Dennis, in preparing his will before his passing in 2023. Tristan is in his second year in the Juris Doctor Law program at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and has mentored students experiencing health issues within their families. “I am grateful for the support of Kevin Daly, his family, and the ALS Society of Canada for supporting my education through the ALS Canada Kevin Daly Bursary. I now have the privilege of continuing my education during the most difficult period of my family’s life,” he says. “I am motivated to use this scholarship to ensure my family can live a happy and healthy life – the one my father envisioned for us.” 

Influenced by her father, who passed away from ALS, Alexandra McLaren, 24, intends to dedicate her life to supporting people facing neurologic diagnoses as a neurologist. In her third year of the MD program at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Alexandra appreciates the financial support from the Daly family and ALS Canada, “I was honoured to receive this bursary in recognition of my resilience, and I feel empowered to follow my dreams with confidence. The kindness of the Daly family is inspirational, and I hope to one day help students achieve their goals and help alleviate financial burden just as they have helped me.” 

Just beginning his post-secondary studies, Zachary Wood, 17, has chosen to pursue engineering at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Zachary is inspired by his father’s decade-long battle with ALS and the impact technology has had while the Wood family navigates the disease’s unpredictable rate of progression. “I was eight when my father was diagnosed with ALS. It robbed me of years of him being active in my life. I will study engineering with the hope of having the tools to develop devices to help people with disabilities. The ALS Canada Kevin Daly Bursary will significantly help me realize that goal.”  

 

The impact of a loved one’s ALS diagnosis is devastating on young people just beginning to plan their lives – demanding a reroute to navigate new hurdles in their academic and personal ventures. Support from the community plays a critical role during the journey. The Kevin Daly Bursary Fund was created as part of a lasting legacy, celebrating the life and character of Kevin, a devoted father and husband, who received an ALS diagnosis in 2020. He sought to uplift families within the ALS community and support young people in reaching their goals and pursuing their dreams. In November 2024, sadly, Kevin passed away. His unwavering determination to create lasting change and an opportunity for everyone to thrive can be seen through the success of the Bursary Program and the young people who find support through it now and into the future. 

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