When Calgary Vipers pitcher Geoff Freeborn met Robert Bertolas, a man running and biking across Canada to raise funds for Multiple Sclerosis (MS), he never expected how much they would actually have in common.

Robert Bertolas left Victoria on March 3, 2007 for a 10,500 km journey across Canada, chasing his goal of raising $15 million towards finding a cure for MS.

Freeborn met up with Bertolas to congratulate him on behalf of the Calgary Vipers as he passed through Calgary on April 16, where he learned even more about Robert’s incredible story.

“You know, I played baseball too,” he told Freeborn, “I actually got a half scholarship to a Florida college for baseball when I was 18, but it’s a good thing that I didn’t go.”

“Why?” asked Freeborn.

“Because I was diagnosed with MS a year later,” said Bertolas.

Now 38 years old Bertolas has been living with MS for almost 20 years. To maximize his health while living with the illness, Bertolas lost 85 pounds and has run marathons in England, Toronto and New York. His cross-country Victory Tour is scheduled to wind down in St. John’s, Newfoundland in November.

“His story was incredibly inspiring especially learning that he was a baseball player,” said Freeborn. “He signed a copy of his book to share with the entire team and really motivated us to put our entire heart into the game.”