For six consecutive summers, former soldiers, veterans and first responders have travelled from coast to coast, raising awareness on post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Rolling Barrage is a fundraising motorcycle ride that generally lasts three weeks and covers 8,000 kilometres, with about 20 stops between Halifax and Burnaby, B.C.
“They suffer trauma exponentially and that’s on a daily basis — cumulative trauma,” said organizer Scott Casey of the folks the ride is intended to help. “So I wanted that family of people to get together.”
Casey was 17 when he joined the infantry Royal Canadian Regiment. He said he struggled with mental health when he came back to Canada after serving as a peacekeeper in Bosnia in the early 1990s.
“My drinking at the time was off the charts,” he told Global News. “It was one of the ways to cope. There was no treatment for us back in the 90s and we had to learn to survive without it.”
Casey suffered with PTSD for 16 years before finally being diagnosed and getting the help he needed. Slowly, he said things got better.
Now he has made it his mission to help others. That’s how The Rolling Barrage was born.
On the open roads, hundreds and hundreds of Canadians come together to support each other through their personal struggles.
“It’s a huge network of family now so everyone gets that chance to stay healthy,” said Casey.
Every morning on the tour, the day’s ride is dedicated to a friend and colleague who suffered. At many stops along the way, locals come out to say thanks and let the riders know that they care.
“The towns now are lined with people coming out and waving … there’s a healing process for the people on the ride when they see that,” said Casey.
Last year, The Rolling Barrage raised nearly $59,000 for its PTSD foundation. The ride has been so successful, Casey said he is now helping to launch other awareness rides in Canada.
He never realized this idea would grow so strong and help so many people, he explained.
“I didn’t know how it was going to turn it out, but halfway through in 2017 when were on the run and someone said ‘See you next?’ And I’m like. ‘Yup,'” said Casey.
“Here we are, it’s six years later and the run is still going, so I’m very pleased.”
This year’s ride began in Halifax on Aug. 1 and is scheduled to arrive in Cranbook, B.C. on Aug. 17. It ends in Burnaby on Aug. 20.