The number of people taking their own lives is a significant and growing concern in the United States. In 2022, nearly 50,000 Americans died by this means, and there were an estimated 1.5 million attempts that same year.
Between 2000 and 2018, the rate of people taking their own lives in America increased by 35%. It is now the 11th leading cause of death in the United States.
This increase led to the first recorded decrease in average life expectancy in America in decades.
In 1999, one man began his own, very personal crusade against this worrying trend. His name is Steve Fugate. This is his story.
Background
In 1999, life was not going well for 52-year-old Floridan Steve Fugate. His marriage was in trouble, and his car-cleaning business was faltering. His son, 26-year-old Stevie, had been convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI).
Stevie was depressed and dreading the community service he would have to undertake as part of his conviction.
Steve decided that it was time to do something different. Although he wasn’t a particularly active walker, he decided to hike the Appalachian Trail (AT).
The AT is a hiking trail in the eastern United States. It runs from Mount Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia, passing through 14 states on the way. It covers over 2,000 miles of remote and often mountainous terrain.
Completed in 1937, this was one of the first long-distance walking trails in America. Most hikers tackle only a small part of the trail. A few attempt to “thru-hike,” walking the entire trail from end to end.
That’s what Steve Fugate set out to do in 1999. His plan was to leave Stevie in charge of running the family business while he walked. This, Steve hoped, would occupy Stevie’s time and help to end the depression into which he had sunk.
When Steve had completed walking the trail, he hoped that Stevie would then do the same. Steve was walking through southern Pennsylvania when he received devastating news. Stevie had passed away.
When he returned home, Steve Fugate learned that his son had taken his own life. He left behind 12 unfinished notes. None really explained why Stevie had decided to end his life.
For Steve Fugate, the shock and pain were almost unbearable. He later said: “I felt as though someone had taken an ax and chopped out my heart.”
Back To The Trail
Eight months after the passing of his son, Steve Fugate returned to the Appalachian Trail. He resumed walking the trail where he had left it. He completed the walk, and for him, it was a life-changing experience.
Steve Fugate dedicated his completion of walking the AT to Stevie. He spoke to those he met on the trail about depression and its tragic consequences.
He also adopted a motto that he would use for the rest of his life: “I want to mend the broken heart while it is yet beating.”
Steve Fugate began undertaking frequent long-distance walks. He covered thousands of miles, mostly walking under a simple banner that read “Love Life.”
Wherever he went, he spread the message that life is worth living, no matter how difficult it may seem.
By 2004, Steve Fugate had walked over 14,000 miles across America. He walked in all weathers and in some of the most inhospitable terrain in the country. What kept him going was the desire to share his “Love Life” message.
Back home, Steve’s daughter, Shelly, helped to keep the family business going while Steve was walking. Then, tragedy struck. Shelly was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
While walking in 2005, Steve Fugate received the most terrible news again. Shelly had passed away. She had overdosed on the medication intended to treat her illness.
Steve always believed that this was an accident. Shelly would not have taken her own life, he believes and left her four-year-old daughter behind.
With both his children gone, Steve Fugate wound down his business and dedicated himself to walking full-time.
Trail Therapy
Steve Fugate described his long-distance walking as “trail therapy.” He had sought professional help to deal with his pain and grief, but no conventional therapy had worked.
Instead, he found that walking, day after day and alone, helped him to come to terms with his loss.
In the beginning, Steve Fugate created a non-profit organization. He accepted donations from those he met on his epic walks and passed them on to charity organizations.
But he found that administering these donations ate into his time. Soon, he closed down his charity organization and stopped accepting donations.
Instead, he focused on spreading his message to those he met. He believed that God had instructed him to begin walking.
To those he met, he didn’t preach or often even mention God. Instead, he focused on the pain experienced by those left behind after someone takes their own life.
He also spoke with those who had been impacted by the loss of a friend or family member. He tried to help them come to terms with the pain and confusion of sudden loss. He also spoke to them about the guilt that they inevitably felt.
On The Road
While walking, Steve Fugate would generally make a simple camp at the side of the road each night.
He stopped taking donations, but sometimes, strangers would pay for a hotel room or a meal. The only things he needed were water and a place to charge his electronic devices.
Fugate needed those devices because he had a Facebook page with over 5,000 followers. He also started a web page, Trailtherapy.com. He used both to give updates on his progress and to spread his message about the value of life.
Through these sites, Steve Fugate’s odyssey gradually became better known. He was featured in local newspapers and television and radio shows. Occasionally, he was invited to speak in local schools.
On his website and in person, he continued to spread the same simple message. Life is a gift. It can be wonderful if you choose to make it so.
Steve Fugate believed that this was still a vital message. Much of the new social media that was growing during his walk was, he believed, negative. Many news stories accentuated the negative for dramatic purposes.
Fugate tried to counter with a very different message. That people are essentially good and that life too can be good. He told people: “to focus on one thing and that is to love life.”
The Road Goes Ever On
By 2014, Steve Fugate was 67 years old and had covered over 20,00 miles on foot. He had crossed America six times, spreading his message of hope and optimism. All his walks were done alone.
This solitude was important to Fugate. It helped him to come to terms with the tragedies in his own life. But it also helped him to see the beauty of the American landscape and essential good in the people he met.
Perhaps surprisingly, Steve Fugate has claimed that he does not like walking! He has worn out so many pairs of shoes that he lost count, and his feet and legs often swell. Sometimes, he talked about getting a van and using that to tour the country.
But that didn’t happen. By 2021, Steve Fugate was still walking. By that time, he was 74 years old and had covered an estimated 45,000 miles.
Despite his age, he hadn’t lost any of his enthusiasm and had even expanded the scope of his journey. In January 2021, he began a 1,600-mile walk throughout his native Florida.
In addition to spreading his Love Life message, he raised money to protect the endangered Florida Panther.
In 2023, Steve Fugate, now 76, began another walk across America. Beginning in Florida, he walked to Oregon on the west coast. This would be his 9th walk across the United States.
Even today, Steve Fugate shows no signs of taking it easy. In December 2024, he began a “short” walk. This would take him 1,000 miles from Florida to Louisiana, though he hadn’t finalized a route before setting off.
Conclusion
Steve Fugate is an amazing human being. Despite the tragedies in his life, he has responded with hope and optimism. He has used his epic walks to spread this message.
No one knows how many people he has helped along the way.
In a world that seems increasingly bleak and fragmented, Steve Fugate provides a beacon of positivity. In a Facebook post made shortly before setting off on his latest adventure, he said:
“My Love Life message is simple: love life and all it has to offer.”
It’s very clear that Steve Fugate truly loves life. He also uses every moment that he has to try to persuade others to see things the same way. He does this not for money, or fame, but because he believes that it is the right thing to do.
It’s difficult to escape the conclusion that this planet might be a better place with more inhabitants like Steve Fugate.
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