Sex abuse survivor shares his story
Ultra runner honoured for fundraising work
Little Warriors, an Edmonton organization that helps sexually abused children, honoured ultra runner Jean-Paul Bedard at its fifth annual fundraising luncheon on Wednesday.
Bedard, himself a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, ran four back-to-back marathons last fall to raise awareness for Little Warriors. He has pledged to run six marathons (that’s 253.2 kilometres) at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon this fall.
The runner shared his story — of abuse, addiction, mental illness, recovery and resiliency — during a keynote speech at the Shaw Conference Centre on Wednesday. Bedard was abused by a hockey coach when he was nine, and then raped at age 12 by two men in a Toronto ravine.
“Untreated childhood sexual trauma has a way of reverberating throughout a lifetime,” he said. Decades passed before he felt ready to tell his wife about the incidents and seek treatment.
“I invite you to think about the incredible work Little Warriors is doing and I’d like you to think about how you and so many other caring people are helping to make sure that kids like me don’t have to take their childhood trauma into their adult years,” he told the audience.
Glori Meldrum, who founded Little Warriors and presented Bedard with a Be Brave Award after his speech, said she hopes to receive more funding to expand the organization’s scope. The Be Brave Ranch treatment program (for youth ages eight to 12) has an 11-month waiting list, which Meldrum hopes to reduce. She also hopes to open another program for 12- to 16-year-old girls.