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Photos: Run to Remember raises $3K for first responder mental health services

Collège Boréal students host the third annual Run to Remember in support of #IVEGOTYOURBACK911

First responders stood with community members at the starting line of the third annual Run to Remember at Collège Boréal Saturday, raising more than $3,000 in support of mental health services through #IVEGOTYOURBACK911

Run to Remember is a student-run initiative designed and organized by individuals in the fitness and health promotion program, to support first responders while promoting physical activity and mental wellness. 

Eighty per cent of the proceeds from this year's event have been allocated to global initiative #IVEGOTYOURBACK911, while the remaining 20 per cent goes towards a grant for graduating students. 

#IVEGOTYOURBACK911 was introduced as a social media campaign by active front-line paramedics to raise awareness of the rising rate of suicide among first responders. By transitioning to an online platform, the campaign has become a place for those who have to deal with traumatic incidents in the workplace to share ideas, resources and fundraise for mental health initiatives. 

The campaign includes paramedics, police, fire, emergency telecommunications, nurses, corrections, and military. 

Several individuals either active or retired from the military, paramedic and police service attended Saturday's event to show their support, including Lt.-Col Cyril McFate (retired). This was the first year McFate participated in the Run to Remember, not only as a participant but a committed volunteer. 

"Because it's a part of me," he said when asked what inspired his involvement. 

During his time as a military officer, McFate volunteered with the Royal Canadian Air Force Search and Rescue division where he said himself and those in his care were exposed to "some pretty nasty things."

Having been raised on a farm, McFate said he was more familiar with the cycle of life and death than those who had grown up in a contrasting social environment, but that didn't mean it was easy. The experience left many with emotional scars and some with a desire to quit the military all together he said, which was not as simple as one may think. 

"They were protecting themselves against that trauma but the problem with the military itself...is that you can't quit, you gotta stay there and you gotta put up with it," said McFate. 

While enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces, McFate said servicemen and women have access to food, lodging and health care, which can assist in recovering from traumatic events. 

It is the cold transition from these services to a lack of support in the civilian world, which McFate said is contributing to the rates of veteran suicide and homelessness. 

"It's trauma that's not being recognized first - maybe by the individual themselves - then they're in another environment where they don't know how to get help," said McFate. "So that's our job - is to try to help them."

The model for Run to Remember was created by students in the fitness and health promotion program three years ago as part of a leadership course, which was initially designed to launch a new event each year, said Emilie Lacroix, program coordinator for fitness and health promotion. 

It has been repeated in the following years due to the event's financial success and the experience of fitness and health promotion, paramedic services, police foundations, and massage therapy students who participate. 

"At the end of the day everybody is going to be super tired, but everybody's going to be super accomplished," said Lacroix. "They really come out of it seeing the importance of having physical activity and community events in your work and in your personal life."

The full list of Ivegotyourback911 recipients can be found here.
 


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Keira Ferguson, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

About the Author: Keira Ferguson, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

A graduate of both Laurentian University and Cambrian College, Keira Ferguson is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter, funded by the Government of Canada, at Sudbury.com.
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