An Irishman is hitchhiking to Australia in aid of suicide prevention charities to show "even when odds are against you, you can find a way".
Andy Howard set off on the epic trek around the world with no money, the clothes on his back and a rucksack earlier this month.
The 28-year-old, who lost close pal Louis Caplis to suicide in 2018, only began planning his adventure in November – before it began on January 14.
He hopes this project –which is named Seeking Human Kind – will tear down any stigmas associated with mental health and encourage anybody suffering to get help.
Andy said: "I lost a mate of mine in 2018 and it affects so many people. I’m big into fitness and sports. Everyone has physical health but everybody also has mental health.
I think there is a stigma around it that people don’t suffer from mental health. We need to look after our physical health just as much as our mental health and if I’m able to help out in any way to create more awareness for people to talk and to give people an understanding that there is a lot of help out there and that all they need to do is just look for it.
"A lot of men tend to believe they can deal with it themselves. Everybody struggles, everybody has dark days and I want to make people aware that’s normal and encourage people to talk to each other, a problem shared is a problem halved. Simply talking about stuff helps so much."
Andy said of the idea to trek to Australia: "I wanted to show people that if you put your mind to something anything was possible so I had to come up with something quite out there that some people might not believe was achievable.
"Australia is a good distance but I was thinking how can I make this harder and I said 'right if I start off with zero money' that’ll make it even more difficult.
"I am relying on human kindness to show even when odds are against you, you can find a way. I want to raise money for charity too so I wanted to go about it in a way that people would be interested in."
Andy said the kindness of strangers so far has been incredible and he has gotten further than he expected already.
Random people who have heard his story have purchased ferry tickets for him to get from the UK to France while others have bought him train tickets into Paris, Switzerland and Italy.
He said: "As you can imagine, I’m pretty vulnerable, I’ve literally become homeless in a sense with no money and a backpack and some camera equipment so I’ve just been relying on the kindness of people to help me with a place to put down my head and for some food and travel.
"I’m trying not to stress too much and hopefully everything will work out. There is a lot of good out there, you just need to keep asking to find it. So many people have been so nice."
The Wicklow man said he is also carrying a tent for the times when he has nowhere to sleep, but to date, he hasn’t had to use it. Andy was living in England before his trip and had a stable job working for a car rental company but said something wasn’t "right".
Andy then sold most of his possessions in preparation. He added: "The mother and father are very supportive, no matter what I said I was doing they would have supported me.
"All my mates think I’m a bit mad but they’re fully supportive. Spreading the word and being there for me."
He reckons the trip will take around 18 months to complete.
Andy said: "People keep asking me what I’m going to do once I reach Australia but I’m not thinking that far ahead. I don’t even know what I’m doing tomorrow or in an hour’s time."
Andy said he hopes to raise over €100,000 which will be divided between Samaritans Ireland, Samaritans UK, and Beyond Blue in Australia.
The trip is documented through his various social media channels and people can donate at gofundme.com/f/SeekingHumanKind-Suicide-Prevention.
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