When Fredericton local Lori Haggerty decided she would walk across Canada, she had no idea of the ups and downs her journey would bring her.
But now, after walking through nearly every province from coast to coast over the past year and experiencing waves of support both online and in-person, Haggerty doesn’t want the walk to end.
On April 2, 2024, Haggerty started her “Just Walk Away” journey in Vancouver and started walking across Canada to raise awareness and money for domestic abuse, mental health and women’s shelters.
“It’s safe to say, even if we don’t realize it, we all know someone who is being abused,” she said. “And we already have the cure to help this and that’s through better mental health care along with supports for our shelter system.”
According to the Government of Canada website, 44 per cent of women and girls who had ever been in an intimate relationship reported experiencing intimate partner violence in some capacity. Although this percentage could be a lot higher than one may think because how often domestic abuse is underreported. In 2019, 80 per cent of domestic abuse victims did not report it.
The Government of Canada stats also show intimate partner violence and mental health go hand in hand, as 36 per cent of women in Canadian shelters for abuse survivors reported mental health as a top challenge faced.
For Haggerty, the intersectionality between mental health, shelters and domestic abuse was why she chose to walk and raise money for two different causes — Women’s Shelters Canada and the Canadian Mental Health Association.
“I couldn’t choose between the two charities, because I see them both as essential,” she said.
It wasn’t just a passion for the cause that motivated her to start walking, but a combination of factors that eventually led to a lightbulb moment for Haggerty.
In December of 2020, Haggerty and her daughter were involved in a car accident that left her with a brain injury, severe short term memory loss, aphasia among other physical impairments making her unable to even watch T.V.
As someone who was training for a 6k marathon and was in the process of applying to STU social work program before her accident, Haggerty said she started to withdraw after the drastic change.
“After the accident, it felt like I went from having the world by the tail and excited to start a new career, to having everything taken from me.”
She needed a goal to work towards since she had nothing to distract her from herself — and so she started writing. Her story was about a foster child crossing Canada in hopes of finding her biological family.
It was during a conversation with a fellow writer that Haggerty realized her writing was not just fiction — she was the main character.
“In that moment, I was like a lightning bolt … I just knew I had to walk across Canada,” she said. “And I needed to do it in honor of my sister Patricia, who was murdered in Fredericton in 2008.”
Haggerty’s sister, Patricia Kucerovsky, was reportedly poisoned and died in 2008, however her death remains unsolved.
Haggerty said that the big feelings of frustration surrounding her sister’s murder, along with her physiotherapist’s advice that “big feelings require big movements,” were what drove her to start her walking movement.
Since her start in Vancouver, Haggerty said she has not only seen beautiful landscapes, but has also met amazing people along the way, including many domestic abuse survivors, people wanting to know more and even the Parliamentary Minister of Women and Gender Equality.
The most impactful moment for her was an interaction with a young boy at a brief pit-stop in a New Brunswick Tim Hortons. He had looked up Haggerty’s website and shared with her that his parents were drug addicts before he was adopted at eight years old.
“He came over to shake my hand and take a selfie. He said, ‘I want to thank you for what you’re doing out here,’” she said. “It just blew my mind. I just thought ‘there’s a young man that’s going to help help change the face of this country.’”
She said she is extremely grateful for the support she has received throughout her cross-Canada walk. Whether that is her husband taking time from work to drive alongside her, supporters offering their campgrounds or a spare room, or people donating to her cause, her journey would not have been possible.
After nearly a year of walking almost non-stop with just one break to mourn the death of her mother, Haggerty arrived back in her hometown of Fredericton in mid-February. While she said it was a nice break to see her friends and family, she was soon back on the road and is currently en route to the N.B.-P.E.I. border.
As the trip comes to an end, Haggerty said she is happy to have made it this far.
“I feel a lot stronger and a lot more capable. In general, just having done this, I’ve been inspired by so many people, given me a renewed sense of joy.”
To survivors, she hopes to inspire those struggling with domestic abuse and be a pillar of information and help for those wanting to leave unsafe situations.
“I think it’s actually easier for me as a 55 year-old non-athletic woman to walk across this country on the Canadian highway than it is for many people to safely get away from their abusers,” she said. “So to them, I say, ‘I want you to see my courage and determination and I hope that you find your own strength and determination.’”
