BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. (WLOX) – One man is raising awareness for mental health and recovery one mile and one state at a time.
Kyndal Edwards, known on social media as ‘A Walking Testimony,’ is on the Coast this week as he continues his Walk Across America.
Fans almost always know where he is because messages of positivity are consistently uploaded for his more than 150,000 followers across all social media platforms to see.
His life didn’t always look like this.
“In the last 15, 16 years, I’ve tried to take my life twice, I’ve overdosed, county jail 11 times and then prison twice. I shouldn’t be standing here today, but I am,” Edwards says. “I could go out here and walk across America for a purpose.”
The idea to power through thousands of miles of rough terrain and sometimes unfavorable walking weather came when Edwards was in a county jail in 2015.
When he decided to get his life back on track, the next goal was finding a suitable cause.
“The 180 stands for taking a 180-degree turn in the opposite direction from the things that are taking the people that we love and care about.”
There are 180 names on T-shirts he creates. All of the names represent individuals who have passed because of mental health or recovery issues. There are 18 editions of the shirt, totaling more than 3,000 names of lives lost. Edwards acknowledges that even though it sounds like a large number, this is just a small percentage of names when you look at the bigger picture.
That’s what keeps him on highways and sometimes backroads, passing out bracelets that say, ‘You Matter’ and making sure people in every state see his iconic cart.
The cart features a charging station, a tripod so he can create social media content of his journey, all of his merchandise, and safety equipment. In 2022, when Edwards set off to cross state lines, he says the cart wasn’t nearly as durable.
As of Friday, Edwards is 73 months drug-free and has walked 8,068 miles. He’s spent two years, or 731 days, working to travel to all four corners of 48 states for mental health awareness and recovery. At this point, he’s been to 19 different states, crossing 24 state lines.
So far, he’s raised almost $11,000 for his partner nonprofit addict II athlete.
“From here on out, it’s not about how much distance I can cover in a day, it’s about still getting out there and doing my thing but meeting people and spreading positivity,” he says.
You might find Edwards making his way eastbound on Highway 90 throughout the next week. If you do spot Edwards in the middle of his walk across America and want to say hello, he asks that you find a safe way to do so that does not block traffic.
He can be found as ‘A Walking Testimony’ across most platforms.
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