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Va. (WAVY) — A Florida man walking across America to raise awareness about mental health and recovery made a pitstop Thursday in Hampton Roads
10 On Your Side caught up with Kyndal Ray Edwards in Chesapeake about his four-year long journey by foot across the United States
Edwards began his journey four years ago, and more than 10,000 miles later, the message he wants to share with everyone he encounters is still the same: you matter
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Those are also the words you’ll read on the front of the doggy stroller Edwards pushes during his treks along roads and highways all over America
“I’ve had numerous people in different states stop and hug me in tears, saying I was literally on my way home to take my life, and I just needed a sign, and this was it today,” Edwards said
One step at a time, he’s taken the ‘you matter’ message all over the country
He started in Jacksonville, Florida on Jan. 1, 2022, and eventually hit Washington state
Now, he’s back on the East Coast and he’s working his way up to eventually end his trip in Maine this October. But of course, he stopped in Chesapeake and made a few new friends along the way
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He’s hoping to raise awareness about mental health and drug addiction
“Everybody in the world has been impacted in some type of way by mental health and/or recovery issues,” Edwards said. “You know, depression or addiction, maybe a family member, a friend, or somebody that knows somebody that’s lost their life, or is in recovery, or has taken their life, or has dealt with depression.”
He explained how his own past inspired the journey
“In the last 18 years of my life, I’ve tried to take my life twice,” he said. “I’ve overdosed, I’ve been in county jail 11 times, in prison twice. I’m 33 years old. I have 13 felony convictions and a bunch more misdemeanors. And that big believer, my past does not define me,” Edwards said
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He’s now 87 months drug free and 32 miles shy of 11,000 miles walked across the country to let his fellow Americans know one thing: “I want people to know that they’re important, that they have value, that they have purpose.”
He’s also raising money for a nonprofit called Never Alone Recovery, with more than $7,000 so far
“My goal is just to spread light, love, kindness, and positivity,” Edwards said, “because I don’t know what anybody’s going through while doing what I love, walking.”
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