Another big trip across the province of Manitoba started in the evening hours of September 10. Andrew Cherkas is making the trek from Saskatchewan's border all the way across to Ontario.
Cherkas is a former firefighter with the Winnipeg Fire Department and is an Aircraft Rescue Firefighter now with Canadian Base Operators.
His walk has been in the works for a few months, originally gaining notoriety back in April. He said then that his mission was to raise awareness and funds for firefighter mental health services.
Now, he is ready to put the plan into action.
"My plan right now is a couple big pushes for the first two legs of my journey and then one big push to end it with about 10 to 14 hours of walking most days in between. I'm starting today just to kind of get ahead of it a bit."
Cherkas adds the plan is to walk through the night for a few stretches to help get off to a good start. He says walking at night also gives him a little more comfort when it comes to safety.
"I'm very used to spending a lot of time awake during the witching hours. I thought it might be almost a little safer too, with less traffic on the road. It's definitely not as many cars going by at 5:00 in the morning. So yeah, we'll see how it goes. And if I find it is a little unsafe, I can easily adjust my walking plan accordingly."
In first first night of walking, Cherkas made it from the Saskatchewan border to Virden and was happy with his pace despite getting caught in thunderstorms.
"I quickly found out I will need a better rain poncho and I can sure feel the burn already."
The message behind his run is very personal to Cherkas, which he outlines.
"I'm walking to raise funds for firefighter mental health, specifically PTSD. And getting members across the province assistance as quickly as possible to help with that if they're struggling. I know there's been a lot of loss in the service through the province the last couple of years, and a lot of people are struggling," he continues. "I was diagnosed with PTSD in 2021 and had to take some time off work and I've chatted with lots of doctors and family members and friends to kind of get me to a healthier place today. And some people don't have those resources available right away. They don't have people around them to recognize the symptoms and often struggle alone. So, I just want to make sure there's an easier avenue for them to access help and reach out to some people who can get them feeling better."
Cherkas has started a GoFundMe named 'Steppin' in Support for 1977' to raise money in support of the Preston Heinbigner Memorial Foundation, which was started to honour the firefighter who lost his battle with mental health in 2024. The foundation's goal is to support firefighters by sending them to the British Columbia Firefighter Resiliency Program.
- With files from Ryan Simpson
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