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A Manitoba teacher is taking her grief and using it to raise awareness and funds for suicide prevention and mental health awareness.
"So for my 50th, I decided I'm going to run across Manitoba," says Diane Wing of Portage la Prairie. "It's 500 km, so I'm going to do 50 km a day for 10 days."
Wing has summers off as she teaches grade one students from September to June each year.
"It's for the Canadian Mental Health Association. We're doing a fundraiser for that. It's also in memory of my husband, Kelly, who lost his life to suicide. Also, for anyone else who is suffering or has lost a loved one."
Wing started her birthday run fundraiser at the Saskatchewan border on July 9. If all goes to plan, she'll be running past the Manitoba/Ontario border on July 18.
"Yesterday and today, we stayed in a tent. Tonight we get a hotel, which is good because it was very hot and hard to sleep last night. Yesterday was our first day, and it was a little tough. I did fall and scraped myself up. I'm a little injured but fine. The wind was against us, so I'm hoping for a little better start today. We'll take what we can get."
Wing has been doing training runs since November. To start the training, she competed in a marathon in Fargo, ND.
"Running has really helped me on my mental wellness journey. It was very tough after Kelly passed away. I needed exercise, and running really helped me. It's part of the journey. My mom suffered from depression when we were young. It wasn't really talked about, and we didn't understand. There is more awareness now, but we have a long way to go."
Anyone interested in donating to Wing's birthday fundraiser can do it here. Her goal is to raise $10,000, and as of Thursday, she's already over $7,000.
"If we can help anybody, that's our mission. You're not alone. People need you. If you need to get help, do it. Reach out and don't try and suffer alone."
Wing will stop by her school in Portage la Prairie at Fort la Reine on Sunday, July 13, to hand out freezies at 3:00 p.m. Anyone interested in hearing about her journey or just cheering her on is invited. Wing is hoping to pass through The Forks in Winnipeg on Tuesday, July 15.