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Generations have passed since lifelong Windsor resident James O’Neill first walked from Canada to the U.S. via the Ambassador Bridge.
Now the 93-year-old local citizen can say he’s done it again — this time, on the Gordie Howe International Bridge.
O’Neill was among the many people from both sides of the border who enjoyed the opening of the bridge’s multi-use path on Wednesday.
James O’Neill, 93, of Windsor, prepares to take a walk on the Gordie Howe International Bridge. (Michael Evans/CBC)
“I was trying to repeat something I did when I was about 14 years old, when I walked the other bridge,” O’Neill explained.
“This one is a little higher, and a little more slant. But I’m doing it… Well, I’ve been very lucky with my health. And if it continues, I’ll walk the next bridge that they create.”
Windsor resident James O’Neill, 93, exercising on a treadmill. (Tim O’Neill)
To prepare for the bridge’s five-per-cent incline, O’Neill took daily walks for coffee and worked out on a treadmill.
But it wasn’t a solo quest. His journey was supported by his entire family, including his children (now senior citizens themselves), his grandchildren, and a great-grandchild.
O’Neill also had the help of a cane, a walker, and a mobility scooter.
The team reached the middle of the bridge — the international boundary line between the Canadian side and the U.S. side — around noon.
Windsor resident James O’Neill, 93, reaches the middle of the Gordie Howe International Bridge with his great-grandson. (Dalson Chen/CBC)
O’Neill and his family celebrated by taking a few steps across the line to America, and munching on some caramel corn.
That’s the sweet treat that O’Neill fondly recalls he would buy in Detroit after walking across the Ambassador Bridge in the 1940s.
James O’Neill waves to supporters from the middle point of the Gordie Howe International Bridge. (Dalson Chen/CBC)
O’Neill’s eldest son Tim said the family is proud of their patriarch. Out of caution for his health, they decided to return to Canada rather than continue all the way to the Detroit end of the bridge.
“He’s always been an inspiration, for our whole lives. So he’s just doing the same thing and making an example that is incredible,” Tim O’Neill said. “It’s hard to imagine him doing anything else.”
James O’Neill walks with his adult children and grandchildren on the Gordie Howe International Bridge. (Dalson Chen/CBC)
For the nonagenarian, stepping onto the new bridge was like reliving memories — recalling a time when Windsor and Detroit were just a walk away from each other.
“It feels good just to be alive, and it feels better to be a citizen of both countries,” O’Neill said at the boundary point.
“Because I love Americans… I’m glad that Mr. Trump was not able to put a monkeywrench into it.”
Windsor nonagenarian James O’Neill gestures at the sign noting the international boundary line of the Gordie Howe International Bridge. (Dalson Chen/CBC)
