Georgia’s Wish: ‘Please tell the truth about why I died’

Cam McAlpine is getting ready for one of the most arduous days of his life.

“On July 1, I am going to be running up and down this hill approximately 125 times,” McAlpine told Global News.

The hill that McAlpine is referring to is in Mountainside Park, in Kelowna’s Kettle Valley neighbourhood.

It’s a daunting, monumental journey for McAlpine.

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“The equivalent of about 5,000 vertical feet or five kilometres straight up,” McAlpine said.

It’s an effort to fundraise for the Canadian Mental Health Association.

“I’m raising funds for Georgia’s Wish,” McAlpine explained.

Georgia’s Wish is a fund in honour of McAlpine’s daughter, who died by suicide in 2016 at the age of 18.

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“Even after all these years, it’s hard to talk about Georgia,” McAlpine admitted.

The tragic loss of his teenage daughter was devastating for McAlpine, who says a piece of his heart was ripped out — a piece that can never be replaced.

“Georgia was such a beautiful girl,” he said.

McAlpine says Georgia loved to climb the hill in Mountainside Park; a hill he decided to name after her.

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“She’d just go up there and sit and think and look out over the valley,” McAlpine said.

“So we call it Georgia’s Mountain and we thought it was a fitting tribute to her.”

While McAlpine’s 125 ascents of ‘Georgia’s Mountain’ has a financial goal, it has a much loftier goal of awareness.

“When Georgia died, she left us a note,” said McAlpine.

“And in that note, she says please tell the truth about why I died. We need to open up the conversation.”

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So McAlpine is doing just that, hoping to create a community dialogue around mental health and suicide.

“By talking about it, it’s really just the first step in trying to prevent future suicide,” McAlpine said.

Already, McAlpine has raised more than $15,000 for CMHA programs.

If you would like to support ‘Georgia’s Wish,’ visit this website or perhaps even join McAlpine on Canada Day for a lap up and down ‘Georgia’s Mountain.’

“Because we need to be able to talk openly about mental health and mental illness,” said McAlpine, “and what we can do to create a mentally healthy community for all of us.”