Veteran marches across Canada to create ‘generational change’ about mental health

A military veteran walking across Canada to raise awareness about the importance of mental health is making his way through northern Ontario.

Marcus Jefferson is a warrior of hope for people agonized by mental health challenges.

In the last few days, he’s been seen on the shoulder marching along Highway 17 in the rain or sunshine.

“We’re creating something for mental health like Terry Fox did for cancer,” Jefferson told CTV News on the highway outside of Warren.

His own journey with mental health began when he was young. He couldn’t hold relationships or jobs and every day was a struggle.

Jefferson said most of his life, he's with depression, feelings of abandonment and racism. He recalls being a victim of physical and sexual abuse from different men in positions of what he normally would trust in his life.

Marcus Jefferson, a military veteran, is walking across Canada to raise awareness about the importance of mental health is making his way through northern Ontario. (Eric Taschner/CTV News)

“This fostered a great distrust of authority and feeling completely helpless with no one to speak to about any of it,” he said.

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When he turned 30, he knew he suffered a major mental health breakdown. From then on, he knew was going to find a way to turn his life around.

“I basically didn’t understand the life that I had lived created damage and it created trauma,” Jefferson said.

He hoped enlisting with the French Foreign Legion, known as one of the world’s most elite military formations, he be his ticket out. But it was very gruelling and difficult for him.

“I almost quit over it,” he said.

Marcus Jefferson, a military veteran, is walking across Canada to raise awareness about the importance of mental health is making his way through northern Ontario. (Eric Taschner/CTV News)

Marcus Jefferson, a military veteran, is walking across Canada to raise awareness about the importance of mental health is making his way through northern Ontario. (Eric Taschner/CTV News)

But Jefferson kept pushing himself. During his tour of duty as a Legionnaire, he discovered that physical endurance or training lifted his spirits and gave him a sense of accomplishment.

“It gave me something to believe in because I couldn’t believe in anybody else or humanity,” he said.

Using that soldier mentality and what he had learned from the military, Jefferson trained for his cross-Canada trek called ‘March of The Warrior.’

It’s a 27,000-km march from Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., to St. John’s, Nfld.

“Whether we know it or not, we are impacted by mental health in one way or another,” he said.

“Whether it’s us, or whether we realize (it), we went through a mental health issue.”

Since April 17, 2023, he’s marched between 20 and 50 km every single day.

“So basically, I’m doing the form of walking but carrying a basic load of 60 pounds on your back,” Jefferson said.

Carries 70-80 pounds

“But with food and water, I’m up to 70-80 pounds.”

After he reaches St. John’s, he will turn around and push on to Windsor, near his hometown of Kingsville, to end his journey.

Along the way, he has stopped in several communities to speak with people about mental health, sharing his story and hoping to inspire others to seek help.

“We’re going to create generational change and make a major impact,” Jefferson said.

“I want to help anyone in the same position I was in and let them know they aren’t alone.”

What motivates him each day is knowing every stride he takes is one step closer to his goal of helping others.

For more information on his journey, visit his website.