Heroes Unleashed Cross-Canada Challenge arrives in Calgary with a message of hope.

When Matt Devine turned 30 years old, he probably couldn’t imagine cycling across Canada. He was a heavy drinker and smoker who weighed 300 pounds, and was told by his doctor that he was on the way to a heart attack.

It was a major wake-up call.

“I said, enough is enough, and I started to get fit,” Devine said.

The Edmontonian poured himself into improving his physical health. But as a CEO, he was under phenomenal pressure, and the mental side of the equation wasn’t being addressed.

At 40, he was deeply depressed… and made an astounding snap decision.

“I woke up and in an act of desperation, I decided to run 310 kilometres through the Canadian Rockies after only running one marathon before,” he said. “In seven days, I ran seven marathons and we raised $60,000.”

Now 57 years old, Devine has dedicated himself to raising money for children’s charities through fitness. He has previously cycled across Canada and is doing it again to inspire others to fitness.

“We believe things like metabolic disease, mental health, suicide, addiction, all the things that are plaguing our world right now, we can’t depend on others to help us,” he said. “We need to become our own advocates and start our own change journeys.”

Matt and his wife Nicole formed Heroes Unleashed as an invitation to anyone of any ability level to embrace an active lifestyle. This year, they are is raising money for Little Warriors, a charity that supports victims of childhood sexual abuse.

“These kids need our help, the trauma they carry needs to be treated and addressed so that they can then acquire the tools, through this trauma-informed therapy so they can deal with the triggers as they go through life,” said Nicole. “When they get this therapy, they are significantly less likely to be involved in crime, living on the streets, suicide, mental health institutionalization and criminal institutionalization.”

You can catch up with the Devines on Sunday, July 21 at Carburn Park at 9:00 a.m., where they will give a motivational talk.

You can also follow their mission at heroesunleashed.ca.

For more information about Little Warriors, go here.