Fellow in yellow crossing Canada to keep people aware of their health

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Trevor Redmond of Halifax – the self-proclaimed Fellow in Yellow – is on a mission to create a healthy Canada, one person at a time. He has traveled 29,432 kilometers across Canada by the use of his legs, 11,421 kilometers walked and 14,632 kilometers bicycled, so far in his quest to make people feel better.

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Since March 26, he has been walking across Canada to bring awareness to people about their health – physical, mental and spiritual.

“The goal is to take one more step,” he said. “If we look at sports, how do we win? We set goals.”

He was hit by a car when he was 15 years old and nearly lost a leg. A month and a half was spent in hospital performing different surgeries before the doctors were finally able to save it.

“Canadian taxpayers spend large amounts of money every year to invest in the health of others,” said Redmond. “In 1986, they performed 11-12 surgeries on me and got me on my feet again. Now it’s up to me to take care of myself. The same is true for all of us – we really need to take care of ourselves.”

He believes the key to good health is exercise – it strengthens body, mind and soul. While the health care system is excellent, it can only do so much. It is up to each of us to look after ourselves and promote our own care.

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“We need to get up in the morning, look in the mirror, and realize that the person we see is our hero – each of us is the most important person in our lives.

“A healthy habit, a healthy household, a healthy community, a healthy province/territory, a healthy economy, a healthy nation, begins with each healthy person first. This is about Health Caring. Health Caring is efforts made to maintain or restore physical, mental, or emotional well-being. Health, above all, needs to be viewed as the number one priority. Put mind, body and spirit first as a standard and the quality of living for everyone will increase.”

He believes that everyone can create a healthy lifestyle – they just need to get started and stay with it.

“Practice an exercise routine daily that will lead to health, longevity and happiness as frequently as possible,” he said. “Find exercises for mental health, discover exercise for physical health and exercise a truly positive spirit.”

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He believes that the Thousand Islands Parkway is a beautiful place to get out and start that healthy lifestyle. It is a pleasant place to walk, jog, ride a bike or horse, or to perform other exercise programs. Whether alone or with a group, getting out in nature and exercising is a true gift of health that we can give to ourselves. He would love to see a trans-Canada parkway that would encourage people everywhere to get out and start looking after themselves.

“A lot of people say I’m crazy,” he said. “I’m not crazy, I’m nuts, and it takes a lot of good nuts to hold this world together. I want to create more of them – health nuts to build a healthy country. We all need to become our own greatest heroes, get out there, and make it happen.”

To learn more about the Fellow in Yellow and his mission to help us all get healthy, go to www.thereandbackcanada.ca/.

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