REGINA – A retired Canadian Forces corporal is planning to walk across three provinces to raise funds in support of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) awareness and treatment. On Friday, Kate MacEachern will begin her westbound journey in Nipawin, Sask.
MacEachern, from Nova Scotia, founded the non-profit organization The Long Way Home (TLWH) to teach the public about PTSD, its causes and the turmoil it wreaks on people’s lives to increase supports.
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She served eight years in the Canadian army. While working in 2007, she suffered serious a broken neck and spinal cord damage. Her family was told she would remain in a vegetative state but she miraculously walked nine days later and returned to work.
This year, the TLWH team is focusing on coping and healing. PTSD service dogs are one tool that is becoming more utilized and understood.
Three of our four benefactors chosen by TLWH are service dog organizations: Alpha K9, the Neglected Animals Servicing Humanity (NASH) project and Paws Fur Thought.
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NASH is a non-profit organization that trains horses and dogs to assist people with PTSD and other special needs.
The founding member of NASH and her daughter will be accompanying MacEachern on the journey via horseback. Four therapy horses and two therapy dogs will also make the trek.
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The fourth benefactor is the Wounded Warrior Weekend Foundation. Come Friday, MacEachern will begin her next journey at Nipawin, the home of the events which support veterans.
Some of the Saskatchewan communities she will pass by include: Love, Smeaton, Meath Peak, Prince Albert, Shellbrook, Leask, Krydor, Hafford, Battleford, Bresaylor, Maidstone and Marshall.
The team is expected cross into Alberta at Lloydminster in mid-May.
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This isn’t her first trek. In 2012, she walked 576 kilometres from New Brunswick to her hometown in Nova Scotia. A year later, she travelled 1,864 kilometres from Cape Breton, N.S. to Ottawa.
Her upcoming journey will be her last and the longest – spanning between 2,500 and 3,100 kilometres.
MacEachern, 36, will march with a 45 pound ruck which represents the burden people suffer with PTSD. She will also wear a GPS tracker so people can follow her progress online.
The TLWH team is expected to reach Chilliwack, B.C. on July 24. A Wounded Warriors Weekend is scheduled to take place there from July 31 to Aug. 3.
Teri Fikowski contributed to this story
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