It was a big day for those looking to talk about mental illness in the Battlefords as Olympian Clara Hughes rode into the community.
"Clara's Big Ride," part of the Bell Media "Let's Talk Campaign" to raise awareness of mental illness, rode into the community Friday.
Hughes, a six-time Olympian, including speed skating gold, has been open about her own struggles with depression in recent years. She is on a 110-day tour of Canada covering 12,000 kilometres, with a goal of stamping out the stigma of mental illness and making it something people are willing to talk more openly about.
Her tour began March 21 at Maple Leaf Square in Toronto and wraps up on Canada Day in Ottawa at Parliament Hill. Friday marked her 85th day of the journey.
Clara rode in to the Battlefords on her bicycle in the afternoon from Lloydminster, a journey of 145 kilometres, after spending a few days in Alberta.
Conditions were cool and brisk and Hughes arrived an hour and a half ahead of schedule due to a tailwind behind her on her route.
Her arrival took her past Battleford and on to the Battlefords Bridge, to the grounds of Saskatchewan Hospital where she was greeted by patients and staff around 3:30 p.m.
A number of big blue balloons were released into the air and Hughes would later describe her arrival there as an emotional experience.
"I felt so honoured today that we rolled through the grounds and we were able to treat people today like human beings, people that are struggling, people who are human like you and me and that's what it's all about."
She elaborated further in speaking to reporters.
"It gives the deepest level of meaning to what I'm trying to do here … what we're trying to do is raise awareness of mental health, and raise understanding of mental illness, and to almost celebrate it as part of being human, and to get that level of understanding that we're all made up of struggle and joy."
She said it "means the world that people actually care and are showing that and are not afraid to show the connection to mental health."
After a brief rest break, Hughes made her way to the Dekker Centre and Rotary Plaza for a major event - Let's Talk about Mental Health in our Own Backyard.
The event, which drew a large crowd, promoted awareness of mental health and of the services available in the community. Those in attendance heard the inspiring and emotional stories of three individuals, who spoke about their struggles with mental illness.
One of those was Wendy McGuinty, who spoke about the struggles she had as a mother of a son with paranoid schizophrenia. She spoke of the day she had to admit her son Justin to hospital, and how she kept silent about what had happened.
"When I went home, I never told anyone. I didn't call my family and I didn't ask for help. I didn't call my friends. I suffered in silence," said McGuinty.
"When we can speak openly without fear of judgment, when a person with a mental illness is just that, a person with an illness, we will all be better for it."
The crowd also heard from Kelli Favel, who read a poem about her struggles with bipolar disorder, and Terri Davidson who spoke of her struggles with depression.
The stories were inspiring to those in the audience and to Hughes herself.
"Today, to hear these amazing women from the community share their stories for the first time, it definitely reminds me of why we are doing this. It's not about me, it's not about a bicycle, it's about opening up the conversation to people who never had the stage or the opportunity."
She say she believes the tour is making a difference, particularly in addressing the stigma of mental illness.
"The psychologist that I worked with personally, he's talked to me about the fact that nobody's even used the word stigma, before, even going back two years. And now it's something that's becoming very common to talk about the stigma attached to mental illness. I think that things are shifting. I do think we have a long, long way to go on every level but there is a shift happening when it comes to awareness and understanding."
Hughes also displayed a doll that looked like her - a "mini-me" as she described it -made by a local woman that was part of the gift package that greeted her arrival at the hotel.
Saturday saw Clara stop at the John Paul II Collegiate gymnasium for a morning event where she talked with youth from the community about mental illness awareness.
There, the audience heard the story of Breanne Revet, a University of Saskatchewan student from North Battleford, who talked of her own struggles with severe depression. It was a more informal event where Hughes was also able to open up to the students about her own struggles with depression and how she overcame them.
With well wishers cheering her on, Hughes and her entourage departed John Paul II around 10:30 a.m. for Saskatoon as she continued her tour across the country.
