Steve O’Brien has accomplished more in his life than most people can dream of, but he’s far more interested in learning about you.
A former Olympic level athlete, O’Brien says people often marvel how he’s remained the same over the years.
“People say to me, ‘You never change, even after everything you’ve done,’ and I say, ‘Why should I?’”
O’Brien rolled, quite literally, into North Battleford on the weekend using a wheelchair and a para bike before continuing to Denholm and returning to stay overnight in North Battleford in the Walmart parking lot.
“It’s free,” he said with a beaming smile.
He might not be able to avoid people talking about him now, as he’s crossing the country to raise awareness about children in need.
“I just want to raise awareness that our kids are our future leaders,” he said. “We’re there to encourage them and we’re there to motivate them. I don’t care if I raise $300 or $300,000.”
All money raised comes via donation, which O’Brien doesn’t push on people.
“I have over 5,000 t-shirts in my van, do you know how many I’ve sold? None,” he said. “I give them away because as soon as you start asking people for money they think, ‘Oh here we go, another scam.’”
As a schoolteacher, O’Brien says he found the key to helping and understanding children who seem troubled.
“Just listen to them,” he said emphatically. “Other teachers would often ask me, ‘How do you get through to these kids? What are you doing different?’ and I just shrug and say, ‘Just listen to them, that’s what they want.’”
When the idea came to cross Canada, O’Brien turned to his students on ways he could make the trek. Perhaps expectedly, they were a bit unconventional.
Ranging from running to roller-blading to using a pogo stick, O’Brien has now travelled more than 2,000 kilometres after beginning his journey in Victoria, B.C. April 12.
“I chose that day because that’s when my childhood hero, Terry Fox, began his marathon,” O’Brien said proudly. “Dec. 8 I should be getting to St. John’s, Nlfd."
He wants to get professional sports teams involved in his movement, and has had the opportunity to meet with legends.
“I had the chance to meet Jean Beliveau and at first I was worried about it because I didn’t want to bother him,” he said. “But then I was told that he wanted to see me. Wow, what a tremendous man he was.”
Beliveau, who passed away Dec. 2, played 1,287 NHL games with the Montreal Canadiens from 1950 through 1971.
Any and all money raised during O’Brien’s journey will be turned around and sent back into the province it came from to help develop child sports programs. He hopes to get a “Relay For Youth” started, where students at schools around the country will log as many kilometres as they want for one hour on a specific day, and companies will donate $1 for every kilometre they do.
His goal for each day on his cross-country tour, give or take, is to go 51 kilometres.
“I started at 50 because that’s what my age was, but now that I’m 51, I guess I have to do 51 each day,” he said with a laugh. “I told my coach when I’m 100 we’ll have to do it again and do 100 kilometres a day!”
While his method of crossing the country might be complicated, the message he wants to get across is quite simple.
“The thing I want to tell the kids is we are there to listen to you,” O’Brien said. “I teach at a place in Quebec where all the kids who go there have issues at home, and some of them are tough, but when they open up, they’re teddy bears. Tell me one kid who was born mean. Every kid was born a good person. It’s what surrounds them that leads to them making bad decisions.”
If you want to learn more and stay updated throughout his journey, you can find it on Facebook by searching Steve O'Brien Foundation.
