66 Kilometres for 66 Years: Walking for My Dad and raising money for Suicide Prevention

For International Suicide Prevention Month I’ll be walking 66 kilometre from Kiama Lighthouse to Wollongong Lighthouse, in a single day.

Each kilometre will be walked in honour of my dad’s 66 years on this earth.

I can't seem to sum up my dad in words, words just don't do him justice. He was all heart. All feeling. What I can definitely say is that he lived those years with a full heart and lifted everyone around him. He genuinely was the best dad I could have ever hoped for. Towards the end of his life, he struggled, but never once showed us. Never wanted to burden anyone. He chose to take his life.
The pressures men face bubble below the surface. For months, for years, for decades. And as a society we must  step up and shift our expectations of how men 'must be'. Strength is IN vulnerability. And opening up conversations about suicide is integral to shift that, to shift the fine line between life and death.

There is another option. And there is help out there.


My dad loved many things, but he loved to walk, I have beautiful memories from a very young age to my late teens being wrapped up in big jackets and wellies every weekend, trudging through mud, through sand and through forests with him. Myself, my brother and my dad called ourselves 'The Expeditioners' and we explored it all. So, to honour him, I will do a little expedition of my own. I will carry his spirit with me step by step, letting every kilometre be a tribute to the life he lived and the love he left behind.

This little expedition will hurt. I’ll be walking with two chronically broken metatarsal bones and a freshly broken toe (what timing!) But the pain is part of it. Because grief hurts. Silence hurts. Losing the ones we love to suicide hurts. I want to meet this challenge head-on, and to walk through it with him by my side in spirit. The route will take me across beautiful nature reserves and coastlines, it will be a 17 hour trek, but it will be worth it with your help.

I’m walking to raise money for Lifeline, a charity that is exactly what its name says, a lifeline. They are the voice on the other end of the phone when someone feels they can’t go on. Suicide is taking far too many lives with nearly 76 percent being men. Behind every statistic is a person who mattered. A dad. A son. A brother. A friend. And behind every loss is a family who will never be the same.

This walk is my way of saying ‘you aren’t alone in this’. There is always another way, there is always support, and your life matters. 

I would appreciate it so much if you donate to this amazing charity. Your support means they can keep picking up the phone when someone calls in their darkest moments. Every step I take will be fuelled by your kindness, by my dad’s love, and by the belief that together we can truly help save lives.

This will be my route:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/E2JHJ12FR7pitYwn9?g_st=iw

You can follow updates from Instagram @katieknowles

Thank you so much.

With warmth,
Katie