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Owen Sound woman raising funds for child and youth mental health

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Olivia Duwyn’s struggles with severe depression and anxiety have her wanting to help other youth who may be facing similar challenges of their own.

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So the Owen Sound woman is raising funds for local child and youth mental health services by doing something that has benefitted her – getting active.

Duwyn is completing her own triathlon for mental health by swimming, cycling and running as she reaches fundraising goal levels along the way.

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“It took me a long time to decide what to do, but I grew up as a swimmer so I have already got that leg of the triathlon,” the 19-year-old Duwyn said Wednesday. “I also cycle and run so it kind of just worked out perfectly.”

Duwyn said she chose to do something that involves physical activity because it has helped her manage her mental health.

“Whenever I am feeling down or stressed or anxious I will go for a run, or hop in the pool for an hour, or get out on my bike and ride as fast as I can to feel better,” Duwyn said. “Exercise is a great way for me to get my emotions in check so that I can face a situation with a clear head.”

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Last Friday, Duwyn plunged into the waters of Lake Huron at Sauble Beach for a one-kilometre swim after reaching the mark of $1,000 raised.

“When the weather is nice I do a lot of open water swimming,” Duwyn said.

“But it was very chilly on Friday. I couldn’t feel my hands or feet by the end of it.”

After a weekend to warm up, she was back at it on Tuesday, when she was joined by her grandfather Don Wilkinson on a 25-km bike ride around the Owen Sound area to mark $2,500 raised.

“It was a bit chilly, but it was good,” Duwyn said.

And she is already halfway to her ultimate goal of $10,000 raised, after which she plans to run 42.2 kilometres, the equivalent of a marathon.

Duwyn knows that running the marathon distance will be the most difficult of the three challenges.

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“I have wanted to run a marathon for a while now so I figured that would be the last leg of it,” she said. “It will be the most challenging for sure and that is why I put it last.”

Duwyn had originally planned to raise just over $4,000, but she soon realized she would reach that level fairly quickly and upped it to $10,000. On Wednesday, she was past the halfway mark, having raised about $5,500 so far.

She plans to hold off on running her marathon until the spring, using the colder winter months to train.

Funds raised in Duwyn’s challenge will go toward adolescent mental health beds at the Owen Sound hospital, a program she says has helped her out a great deal in the past.

“I have stayed on that floor multiple times at the hospital and so I am pretty close with the staff and workers who are there,” she said. “I figured I would try to give back somehow for everything they have done for me.”

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She is also looking forward to helping other children and youth who may also experience mental health challenges such as anxiety and depression.

“I know how awful it feels,” she said. “They come in usually without a toothbrush or deodorant or anything like that, so hopefully the money can even just go towards buying toiletries and supplies that they need just to make them start to feel physically good again and then work towards mentally feeling good.”

Amy McKinnon, executive director of the Owen Sound Regional Hospital Foundation, said it has been a real pleasure to get to know and to work with Duwyn.

“I think the more people who get out there and speak about mental health, the more we realize we are not alone in that,” said McKinnon. “She is just amazing and inspiring.”

McKinnon is also proud of the way the community has rallied around Duwyn and supported her.

Duwyn, now in her second year at King’s University College at Western University in London, is pursuing a career in social work.

“It is mainly just because of what I faced in the past and then just wanting to help other people,” she said of her future career choice.

Anyone interested in donating to Duwyn’s fundraiser can do so by visiting her page on the foundation website at www.oshfoundation.ca/olivia-tri/ They can also call the foundation office at 519-372-3925.

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