Finding the means to travel across the globe can be tricky. But not for Wayne Cho, who is running around the world to share with others his experiences with mental illness and hopefully to raise awareness with the people and places he encounters.
As a child living in China, Cho helped his mother tend to the four acres of land they owned when his father left them to go to South America. He was only in first grade but felt he was constantly reminded how stupid and useless he was because he could not do much to help. He endured much physical and emotional abuse and longed for the day when he would see his father again. But when he was 11 years old, he and his family moved to South America to be with their father, and things were anything but perfect for Cho.
“The person that I was looking to save me turned out to be someone who was hurting me,” he said. “And that was when my anxiety and depression began.”
Cho’s father had begun drinking, smoking and womanizing. Not only was this tough for the 11-year-old, but his father had also been physically abusive. The hardship lasted for three years before Cho, his mother and his brother moved to Canada.
But the young boy was miserable in the new country and felt hopeless because he had no one to talk to about his feelings. Eventually, he and his mother developed a close-knit relationship, which helped Cho cope for the time being.
But something was still missing.
So he began running in 2004, at the age of 30, when life was really getting stressful.
“It was a chance to make something of myself,” Cho said. “And the running really helped me to appreciate the feelings I was having and the world around me.”
The following year, Cho went back to school part-time to study psychology, and things started becoming clearer.
“I found out that what I had been suffering from most of my life was anxiety and depression,” he said. “That’s when I decided to run across the world and share my story with others.”
And on June 11, 2009, he completed an 8207-kilometer cross-Canada run to raise awareness for mental illnesses. He said his journey to achieve his dreams and the people that he has met along the way have inspired him to challenge the stigma surrounding the disorders.
Cho even created a website that tracks his runs and maps out his future runs until he finally finishes in Australia.
Before he gets to Australia, though, Cho will run from Eugene to Florence, Ore., to San Francisco, to Los Angeles, then to New York. From New York, he will fly to London. After he runs through London, he will run through Belgium and Germany. He then plans to fly to the Middle East and run through Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Then it’s off to his home country of China with a big finish in Australia.
“People ask me all the time if I’ll actually follow through and finish,” he said. “But I don’t know. Whatever happens, happens, but I’ve had a great experience and raised awareness in different places. I’ve ultimately accomplished my major goal.”
Wayne Cho races around the world for mental illness awareness
Daily Emerald
February 18, 2012
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