Nova Scotia native Trevor Redmond, in his own words, always loved to run.
In 1986, at the age of 15, he was struck by a car and spent almost two months in a hospital bed after going through 12 surgeries, having an open wound in his leg for over a year, and having a cast on his leg for 10 months. The possibility of him being able to run again was slim.
He dreamed about running over Mount Thom in Pictou County, N.S., and after making the dream a reality, he moved on to accomplish more.
In 2006, Redmond walked from Halifax to Vancouver. In 2007, he walked from St. John’s to Thunder Bay, achieving more than 15 million steps (11,421 kilometres) while hauling a 400-pound trailer for cancer research.
In 2009, Redmond started the There-and-Back tour to cycle 14,632 kilometres from Calgary to the East Coast and then back to the West Coast after being inspired by Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope.
“At times of difficulty, I squeezed tight a Terry Fox dollar coin in my hand for strength as I struggled to walk across this entire nation,” said Redmond.
“When I was nine, I never met Terry. I was sent to school when he ran past my home. I had the opportunity to sit with Fred Fox, Terry’s brother. I talked to Fred about the struggles I had as a teen. Fred talked about his brother and his struggles.”
Since 2019, Redmond has worn bright yellow colours while exercising because it stands out to traffic and pedestrians to get them talking and asking questions about why he wears yellow, which began eight years prior.
In 2011, Redmond and 7,000 other Canadians dressed in yellow jackets for the 25th anniversary of the Rick Hansen Man in Motion world tour, calling it a stunning and inspirational experience that would have seemed impossible to him 25 years ago.
“Having almost lost my left leg when I was 15, just four days prior to Rick rolling past my home in Stellarton, N.S., I lay in a hospital bed wondering where he was and what effort he was taking to keep moving,” Redmond added.
“Waking after my first of many operations, my very first thought was, ‘I’m never going to meet Rick.’ My 15-year-old humbled himself and thought about Terry Fox and what he was able to accomplish after losing his leg. I then thought of how, if not but a fraction of a second, I could have lost the use of both legs, like Rick.”
Now, in 2024, the so-called ‘Fellow in Yellow’ has begun his journey to run nationwide again, this time in support of health. mobility and recovery
For every $10 donated, Redmond will run in your honour. He said he’s running in honour of those who helped him recover from his accident; — from the doctors who performed the surgeries to the Canadian taxpayers who provided the health care.
Redmond plans to travel 7,700 kilometres, weather-permitting, running the average of a marathon every day. If he gets enough support, he plans on travelling back to the East Coast in the future.
“I really want to inspire people to move and have people have those kinds of programs that are gonna help them move through anything,” said Redmond.
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