Ex-soldier Kate MacEachern walking from Nipawin to Chilliwack for PTSD awareness
CBC News | Posted: April 29, 2015 11:41 PM | Last Updated: April 29, 2015
Journey will include horses and riders
Kate MacEachern, a former soldier who has taken up the cause of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) support and awareness through a series of fundraising walks, is set to begin her longest trek yet — a walk from Nipawin, Sask., to Chilliwack, B.C. which begins Friday.
She hopes to complete the 2,700 kilometre journey in three months so she can be in Chilliwack for the 2015 Wounded Warriors Weekend event.
MacEachern and her team have arrived in the province and, during a media event in Regina, MacEachern said she is enjoying Saskatchewan so much she will find it hard to leave.
"Saskatchewan is absolutely incredible. I really don't want to leave," she said. "But honest to God, if I just walk around Saskatchewan for 90 days I think I'll get in trouble."
MacEachern has dedicated her walks, including the 2015 trek to Chilliwack, to raising awareness of PTSD.
She has known adversity in her own life. In 2007 she suffered serious injuries to her spinal cord and brain after a bad fall. Although the initial prognosis from doctors was grim, MacEachern was walking within days of the accident.
For the 2015 walk, MacEachern is teaming up with another group that provides therapy horses to help people dealing with PTSD.
Her campaign is called The Long Way Home. Her previous walks include:
- In 2012, she walked 576 kilometres from New Brunswick to Nova Scotia.
- in 2013, she walked 1,864 kilometres from Cape Breton to Ottawa.
The 2015 walk will raise funds for:
- Wounded Warrior Weekend Foundation.
- Alpha K9 (a service dog organization).
- The N.A.S.H. project (which also has an equine therapy program).
- Paws Fur Thought (also a service dog group).