Suburbs player hikes 1300km to raise awareness of mental health

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Eastern Suburbs defender Cory Vickers and his partner Brittany Adams have raised more than $3,600 to promote mental health through hiking the length of New Zealand’s South Island.

Vickers (29), a full-time welfare officer with the Auckland club, says the couple wanted to spend their summer with a project capable of stimulating discussion of mental health issues.

Cory Vickers … hiking to raise awareness of mental health.

“The idea was to get people talking more about anxiety and depression, something we’ve now played a small role in throughout the country,” he told supporters through social media updates of their journey.

Vickers and Adams set off from the top of the South Island and hiked to Bluff, living on a few dollars a day and finding accommodation wherever they could.

They documented their trek on Instagram and through their website Two Is One.

Throughout the journey, they raised money for mental health through their Givealittle page which will remain open for contributions till March 31. You can visit it here >>>>

Through their Instagram updates, the hikers said: “It feels like forever since we set off from the top of the South Island as two fresh thru-hikers with our 27kg packs, unsure about the challenges ahead.

“We’ve met so many wonderful people on our journey, Kiwis that have opened their homes and other hikers who made our hard days bearable.

“The support has come through in many forms helping keep our spirits high. From kind messages, To shelter and providing us food.

“Through telling our story we’ve sparked many conversations around mental health, and mental health within young athletes in the sport. The idea was to get people talking more about anxiety and depression, something we’ve now played a small role in throughout the country.”

Vickers moved to New Zealand from England and before joining Suburbs, he coached the women’s team at Halswell United in Christchurch.

End of the 1300km journey … Cory Vickers and Brittany Adams.