On Mother’s Day, 1993, Eleanor Mills equipped with her walker-chair launched the “Boney Express” Osteoporosis Canada’s Relay Walk from Victoria, B.C. The goal of the Walk was to raise awareness of the disease and to help others learn to prevent fractures.
“Osteoporosis has pursued and disabled women and men relentlessly for centuries,” said Eleanor, then 79. “Now, when early diagnosis and preventive measures can be taken, it is our duty to get ‘out there’ and spread the news. We need to let people know about this disease before they have a fracture as I have.”
Eleanor realized she had a serious problem in the late 1970s, when she noticed that the hem of her calf-length dress was suddenly down around her ankles.
“That afternoon, I’d heard a very unusual crushing sound and felt a vibration as I awkwardly held onto some heavy grocery bags and tried to open the door to my home. The instant height loss was inexplicable. It was only later that I realized the sound I’d heard was the crushing of my spine. At the time there was no pain. That was to come later.”
