Drew Blondeaux is walking across the country to raise money for a young woman named Liz Estes.
In this day and age, his walk is not unique. There are many individuals who tackle the cross country trek for charity. But make no mistake about it, Blondeaux’s story is special.
See, he’s never met Liz.
Blondeaux heard Liz’s story and it touched him.
At 13, Liz was diagnosed with leukemia. She fought it and beat it. But her battle wasn’t over. At 21, she was diagnosed with stage 4 multiple sclerosis. According to Blondeaux, her latest battle is compounded by rising medical costs.
“I heard about her story through my uncle, who is a pastor in Oregon,” Blondeaux explained. “I felt like I had to do something.”
Blondeaux, 23, decided to trek across the United States.
Blondeaux, who hails from Arizona, is walking from Oceanside, Calif., all the way to the Statue of Liberty in New York City — a grand total of 3,600 miles. He began the trek on March 24 and made a stop in Centre County this week.
“I do a lot of miles every day,” he said. “A lot of the people I talked to took eight months to a year. I’m trying to do it within four months. I’ve been focusing on one goal for 24 hours a day. It’s pretty tough.”
With about 300 miles to go until he reaches Lady Liberty, he spent a couple of nights at the Country Inn and Suites along East College Avenue.
Nicki Wertz, front office manager at the hotel, made sure that Blondeaux’s room was complimentary.
“There aren’t always opportunities to do this sort of thing … random acts of kindness,” Wertz said. “When we have those opportunities, we’ll take them. He’s a young kid and a war veteran. That should be close to anyone’s heart.”
Blondeaux is a former member of the United States Navy. He did two tours in Afghanistan. Therefore, walking across the country didn’t seem like too daunting of a task.
It turned out to be a little more challenging than he expected.
“I really didn’t do any research,” Blondeaux said with a laugh. “I started out in boots and the soles of my feet basically turned into two big blisters. I slipped and tore one blister. I tried to hop on one foot and tore that one. I also got attacked by a badger in Utah.”
Still, the thought of Liz has kept Blondeaux going. Pretty amazing when you consider that he’s only spoken to her on the phone once. They do, however, trade text messages.
“I’m trying to raise money for Liz,” he said. “We’ve sold about 500 shirts and raised about $3,000. Someone donated a $6,000 wheelchair.”
Blondeaux said his stop in Centre County has been memorable.
“Pennsylvania in general has been the most welcoming state I’ve been in, by far,” he said.
For more information about Blondeaux’s walk, visit www.walkforliz.com by clicking here or check out “Walk For Liz” on Facebook.
