"Walk For Samantha"
A Remarkable Young Man is Making the Trek Across Canada!
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| We were really fortunate to have met Neil - an amazing young man with a huge heart! |
Some of you may remember that, just under a year ago, we encountered a young man who was cycling across Canada to raise awareness for Mental Health. (Here's the link to the blog that we published regarding that occasion:
Ryan raised more than $120,000 for the Canadian Mental Health Association, and is now the national lead of youth advocacy and philanthropy with the CMHA. He regularly speaks publicly about his illness and helps youth who struggled as he did. Ryan is not cured - he still has bi-polar disorder - but he has learned how to better manage his mental health. He continually inspires others by his example.
Today, we were blessed to have met another individual, whose story is very different, but whose decision is set to affect the lives of many others, and who will inspire other young people to come forward to do great things.
We were traveling from Cow Head to Twillingate, along Newfoundland Highway 1, when we came upon a sight which intrigued us. A young man, with a heavy backpack, was pushing a cart with what looked like camping equipment. As we passed by, we saw a sign with the words, 'Walking for Samantha' that really caught our attention. We googled those words and found out about the tragic story of a young woman, 35 years of age, who was involved in a car collision, just in front of this young man as he was traveling along a highway in Ontario. He rushed to the car, but she was trapped beyond his reach and he suffered the experience of watching her die.
Neil Hamilton was traumatized by the experience and it played havoc with his mental health, causing job loss and the collapse of relationships.
18 months later, still thinking of the stranger he could not save, Neil decided to hike across Canada to raise awareness around post traumatic stress disorder and solicit donations for local mental health organizations in each province as he travels through the country. He is calling it his 'Walk for Samantha'. (You can read about this at this link: Worth Sacrificing Everything).
We immediately turned our car around, stopped just past where he had reached and crossed the road to chat with him. We got his permission to film him as he tells the story of his decision to walk across the country. We'll let him speak in his own words:
After spending just a few minutes with this incredible young man, we knew that he would be the last one to describe himself as a hero; nevertheless, to us, he was exactly that! He represents the very best of our Canadian youth and we knew we were in the presence of someone with a huge heart and love of his fellow human beings.
Before we left him, Mark commented that, with young people like Neil and Ryan, he felt that the future of Canada was secure!
I couldn't agree more!
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Neil intends to raise awareness and funding in every province through which he travels, assisting local organizations as he works his way through the country. Please do not feel under any pressure from us (or anyone else) to donate.
To find out which charity the 'Walk for Samantha' is linked with in your province, follow Neil on Instagram:
neilhamilton91
If you would like to donate to his cause in Newfoundland, please visit: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/south-and-central-health-foundation/
and use the drop down menu to choose the fund, 'Walk for Samantha'.
It looks like this:
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