Walk ends in Regina after a successful five days
Walkers rally to take a stand against the trauma of childhood sexual abuse
When a friend reached out asking Mike McLean if he would help organize the Victor Walk in Regina, the deputy director at the Paul Dojack Youth Centre, knew it was important.
“To let people know that there’s still hope, that we need to get this out there more often so nothing like this could ever happen again in the future,” he said.
The five-day walk brought sexual assault victim-turned-advocate Theo Fleury and the Breaking Free Foundation through Saskatoon, Swift Current, Moose Jaw and Estevan before arriving in Regina on Saturday for the final leg at the Conexus Arts Centre.
“It has gone beyond all of our expectations. It’s been an amazing week and (we’ve) met some incredible people and our hearts are full,” Fleury said.
The Victor Walk was founded in 2013 by Fleury and since then has travelled through a new province each year. The walk is a way for Fleury to connect with people across the country and to rally them together to take a stand against the trauma of childhood sexual abuse and rape.
In each community the walk stopped at, Fleury was reassured by the welcome they received. Saskatchewan is near and dear to Fleury as he was born in Oxbow and played four years of hockey for the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Moose Jaw is also where Fleury suffered sexual abuse at the hands of hockey coach Graham James. Being able to stop in the city on the walk was important.
“It was amazing. It was a great day, it was a great evening and not only did I do some healing, I think the community did as well,” Fleury said.
Fleury and McLean played hockey together in Moose Jaw and have shared experiences from that time. McLean himself is a recovering drug addict and alcoholic.
“When I went to treatment, I had to learn to become vulnerable and to open up and to become a man means I need to ask for help and I need to be able to share,” McLean said.
Kim Barthel, co-author of Fleury’s book Conversations with a Rattlesnake and co-founder of the Victor Walk said she hears stories of sexual abuse every day but what amazes her on the walk is the sharing.
“But what is so special is when you have a room full of survivors together who share their stories, and the empowerment that that brings,” she said.
As Fleury travelled across the province everyone he met and the communities he went to each stood out and was special to him.
“We’ve met some amazing people that are already helping that want to do more and so as an organization that was one of the goals that we wanted to accomplish. I know that the Breaking Free Foundation left it’s mark on Saskatchewan, so that’s such a double bonus for us,” he said.