WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A South Carolina man is taking a more than 700-mile journey along Florida's coast to bring attention to suicide prevention.
Donald Alford, whose mission took him through West Palm Beach on Tuesday, said talking about depression isn't easy.
"I didn't want to come out my room," Alford said. "I didn't want to talk to nobody. It was hard for me to even speak with my own kids."
So instead, he walks his story, dressed in a bright-colored shirt that reads four bold letters: MWTD.
"It's called, My Walk Through Depression," Alford said.
It started a few years ago when Alford's dad committed suicide, and then shortly after he lost his grandfather and his child's mother.
"All the combined back-to-back just put me in a deep depression," Alford said.
It took him a while to share his heartbreak with others, but now he's taking steps toward change, stopping and talking to as many people as he can along his trek.
"All it takes is just for somebody to pay them attention," Alford said.
Alford added it will take him several weeks to reach his goal. He said he chose Florida because the beach was a special place for he and his father.
"I started up in Jacksonville. You look in that water, it's dirty, it's foggy. If you stuck your head in that water, you open your eyes, you're not going to see nothing," Alford said. "Once I get around here to this Gulf Coast, that water is going to be clear just like depression. You going to start off at one point and everything is going to be cloudy but there's a way to make it clear."
Once Alford gets to the Panhandle, his plan is to stay there for a few weeks and help the victims of Hurricane Michael.
You can follow his journey by clicking here.
