A Chilliwack man who has struggled with mental-health issues is kayaking hundreds of kilometres, solo, to raise funds and awareness for two charities.
Adventurer and advocate Darcy Kindred will be paddling more than 725 kilometres along the Columbia River starting July 10 as part of Paddle Forward, a campaign designed to raise awareness and reduce stigma surrounding mental-health struggles that affect millions of Canadians.
He suffers from depression, generalized anxiety disorder, ADHD, and from time to time, suicide ideation.
鈥淢ental illness touches every family in this country,鈥� Kindred said. 鈥淚鈥檝e battled depression and trauma myself, and I know how isolating it can feel. This journey is about connection 鈥� reminding people they鈥檙e not alone, and showing that healing is possible when we paddle forward together.鈥�
People in Chilliwack and the surrounding areas may have seen Kindred paddling on Chilliwack Lake, Cultus Lake, Harrison Lake, Hicks Lake and working out at local gyms to prepare for his journey.
It'll take three weeks to paddle the entire route. 鈥婽hrough daily video diaries that will be posted on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook, he will document the physical and emotional challenges along the way, while sharing personal stories and insights on mental wellness.
He will also explore the historical impact of colonialism on Indigenous communities along the Columbia River, and the intersection of nature, movement, and mental-health recovery, he said.
"I鈥檓 an example that mental -health struggles can happen to anyone," Kindred said. "My resume reads like a business school graduate鈥檚 dream 鈥� I鈥檝e done deals big and small, in Canada and internationally."
He's an educated family man with career successes, he's coached his kids' sports teams, renovated houses and cottages, is musically talented, and plays a mean game of golf.
But he has also experienced downfalls.
"I鈥檝e gone through a number of life traumas, ranging from bad relationships, relationship abuse, to parental alienation, to nearly being broke and on the street, to having my best friend commit suicide, to extreme work stress, to working in a highly toxic work environment."
With suicide being the second leading cause of death among young Canadians, one of the leading causes of death of working-age men, and mental health system waitlists growing longer than ever, Paddle Forward will raise money for the Centre for Suicide Prevention based in Calgary, and We Are Unsinkable, a Victoria-based charity founded by former Olympian Silken Laumann.
"My goal is to encourage people with mental health problems to understand it is OK to get help鈥� and that there are others out there who understand and share their struggles, and others out there who want to help."
To donate to the fundraiser, read more about Kindred's personal story, and for more about the campaign, go to .
