A rare honour by Ride for Dad Canada has been given to a local figurehead.

Curt Purves joined an exclusive list becoming the 14th person in history to obtain the Ride for Dad Canada President's Award late last month in St. John's, Newfoundland.

The co-chair and co-founder of the Swift Current Ride for Dad was shocked to hear his name called for the prestigious decoration.

"Our president's dinner was the Saturday night and that was the last award to be handed out," he explained. "When they called my name, I almost fell off my chair.

"It's mind-blowing, totally an honour. Something that's totally unexpected."

The local Swift Current chapter started a decade ago with Purves at the forefront of the creation. He had multiple friends diagnosed with prostate cancer and jumped at the chance to make a difference for future generations.

"I saw what they were going through and thought there was no better cause than this one here," he said. "I've been passionate right from the start and something I will keep on as long as I can."

The annual meeting in Newfoundland allowed those in attendance to hear firsthand from physicians how the funding raised has helped the fight against prostate cancer. It also presented an important meeting ground for Ride for Dad chapters across the country.

"Seeing how they do things out there versus how we do things here is totally different," he said. "When we get together every year, we hear different stories from different chapters who are raising money for prostate cancer. The different fundraisers they have and different ways of doing things. It's very informative."

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