‘The Fellow in Yellow’ makes Edmonton stop on cross-Canada run back east

Trevor Redmond, also known as the Fellow in Yellow, ran through Edmonton on his journey to raise money and awareness for mental and physical healthcare.

Trevor Redmond wants you to invest in your health.

He’s making that known by dressing head-to-to in yellow while he walks, runs and bikes across Canada.

“The grandest trifecta of them all is a healthy mind, a healthy body and healthy spirit. This is about the health-caring,” he told CTV News Edmonton on Saturday.

In the last couple of years, the 55-year-old ran from Point Pleasant Park in Halifax, Nova Scotia to Stanley Park in Vancouver, B.C.

Now, he’s on his way back east. Redmond, who lived in Calgary for a quarter of a century, says he’s always happy to be back in Alberta.

As of May 13, he’s covered a quick 38,265 km since beginning his to-and-from journeys.

His real journey, he says, began when he was 15 and struck by a car. He almost lost his leg and credits Canada’s health-care system for putting the limb back together.

“I went through 12 operations, a month-and-a-half in the hospital, a year-and-a-half with an open wound down to the bone, and a lot of doctors, nurses and specialists were there for me,” he said. “I want to invest strongly in our health-care system.”

He was inspired by Rick Hansen, the man who wheelchaired around the world, whom he met 25 years after the accident at an event.

Redmond remembers Hansen encouraging how far he had gotten in his running.

“I go, ‘Well, not as far as you, Rick. In order for me to go as far as you with the kilometres I’ve done, I would have to run across Canada and back,’” he recalled.

“And he goes to me, ‘You can do it.’”

The yellow shirt came out of practicality – traffic visibility. When he donned yellow pants to complete the outfit, however, he took on the ‘Fellow in Yellow’ persona.

Redmond will only be in Edmonton for a night before continuing his journey across the country once again. He raises money online to donate back to health and mental health charities.

“Go and get your own health,” he said. “I’m just here to inspire you to do so, to give you an incentive … This is a run for love and courage.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Galen McDougall