Uncovered Episode 16, Victoria Lavigne

In the latest episode of Uncovered, join host Bruce de la Cruz, as he talks with Victoria Lavigne, who is running 100km from Ottawa to her hometown in Hawkesbury, to raise money and awareness for mental health. This fundraiser is in honour of her father, who after having his own battle with mental health, sadly took his own life when Victoria was just 10 years old. Victoria, who is currently living in Ottawa, has been planning this fundraiser since March, and has trained for it immensely. Although unable to complete the 100km trek on foot as originally planned due to an ankle injury, she kept a positive attitude about her circumstances. When talking about her father, she remembers her best friend, but as an adult she now sees the times when he wasn’t himself, as his battle with bi-polar greatly affected him. When he took his own life, Victoria went through a dark period, and questioned if she had a future at all. Only when she became a young adult did she start to realize she needed to change and become better. This led her to start her non-profit organization called “Fight 4 the Light”, which aims to spread mental health awareness to a larger audience. In addition, the $3000 collected by the organization from the fundraiser is being distributed to various organizations and charities that combat mental health. On the topic of resources available for men and their mental health, she says that there are not enough, and that men need just as much attention as women do in these matters. When asked about her plans for the future, she says she will keep training to run again in the spring, and plans to make appearances at schools to talk about mental health. On a final note, Victoria says that if her father were here, he say was proud of her, and that nothing that happened was her fault, and that he lover her.