This September, Hughes will turn 42 and is a renowned Canadian athlete who has participated in the Olympics six times, competing in both summer cycling events and winter speed skating events, winning medals each time. Now, in her forties, Hughes can no longer compete on the Olympic stage but wishes to give back to society using her talents. Therefore, she decided to start cycling across Canada on March 14, using this unique method to awaken public attention to mental health issues.
This journey is destined to be a challenging one. Canada covers an area of over 9.9 million square kilometers, larger than China. According to her plan, she will cycle through all provinces of Canada, covering a distance of 12,000 kilometers over 110 days, cycling at least 80 kilometers a day and sometimes over 200 kilometers. Along the way, she will hold more than 200 public events in over 90 towns and communities, including promotions, discussions, and fundraising activities.
Her choice to undertake this feat to call for social concern for mental illness is not a whim. Canada has a high latitude, and many northern areas experience harsh winters with little sunlight for half the year. Additionally, many remote towns are sparsely populated, making mental illness and depression significant issues that require social attention and financial support. Hughes herself has suffered from depression and understands the pain involved; she has family members who have long endured the torment of depression. After careful consideration and discussions with a charity organization under Bell that focuses on mental health, Hughes decided to use this long-distance cycling journey to raise awareness for mental illness and to fund research and treatment. Before her departure, she expressed that she felt as if she were heading off to the Olympics, filled with excitement and anticipation.
Hughes has already achieved great success and could enjoy a peaceful and happy life in her later years. But she has not. She refers to this grand cycling journey as a "Journey of Life" with significant meaning for the times. The long journey is bound to be arduous, and only someone like her, who has undergone long and rigorous training and possesses ample physical strength and a robust physique, can take on this responsibility. A friend of a reporter, when discussing this grand cycling journey, sincerely praised her as "a true hero of Canada."
In the early 1980s, Canadian cancer patient Terry Fox ran on an endless road with a prosthetic leg, and that long run was called the "Marathon of Hope." Unfortunately, he did not fulfill his ambition and collapsed after 143 days of hard work. However, his spirit touched countless Canadians, and the foundation named after him has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for other cancer patients. Today, as Hughes cycles, is she not continuing Fox's "Marathon of Hope" and completing his unfinished mission? The conditions for Hughes's journey are much better than those of Fox's time, and the television station is following her journey daily.
Actions speak louder than words. Although Hughes's journey is fraught with challenges and rough roads, she is sure to be accompanied by deep love and passionate encouragement. On the day of her departure, many well-wishers offered their blessings, saying, "Go for it! Come back safely!"