A Kentucky man is hiking from coast to coast across America to raise awareness for breast cancer. After completing the Appalachian Trail in 2016, Clay Chapman was considering another long-distance hike. The 30-year-old Louisville man set his eye on the American Discovery Trail, which runs across the center of the U.S. from Delaware to California, but this time, Clay wanted some good to come from his journey.
After losing both his parents to cancer, Clay decided that he would use the hike to raise money and awareness for cancer, specifically breast cancer. “My mother passed away from breast cancer 10 years ago, so this hike is very much a way to honor her,” he says. So on February 24th of this year, Clay set off from Cape Henlopen, Delaware, headed for California, a walk of over 48-hundred miles in support of Hope Scarves, a Kentucky-based nonprofit that helps fund breast cancer research.
In the past eight months, Clay has hiked through Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and finally California. He hopes to reach the Pacific Ocean by the end of October. “It means a lot that I’m able to finish during October which is breast cancer awareness month,” Clay says. “It’s these little beacons of hope that are out there in the distance and it really helps you know that the world is not as dark as it often seems.”
Source: KCRA