Former nurse completes 11-month solo trek for suicide awareness

A former nurse has completed an 11-month solo expedition across Europe to raise awareness for suicide prevention and mental illness, describing it as “one of the toughest and most incredible experiences of my life”.

Throughout her journey Kit Birks, 30, carried a memorial flag bearing the names of hundreds of people lost to suicide, for her mission known as Stride Beyond Silence.

Walking from the remote wilderness of Nordkapp, Norway, to the isolated Greek island of Gavdos, Ms Birks set off on July 7 last year, concluding her nearly 5,000-mile challenge on Sunday.

Ms Birks, from Andover, Hampshire, has spoken openly about her own struggle with eating disorders and drug addiction, as well as suicide attempts.

Her challenge aims to encourage open conversations around mental health, and she said that hearing from strangers who told her she has inspired them to live another day helped keep her going during her solo mission.

“A journey of this scale changes you as a person but the best part has been the community that has come together,” she said.

“The amount of people sharing their grief, their own struggles and their hope.

“To see comments and messages from strangers telling me they’ve survived another day because of this or expressing their gratitude for carrying their loved one on my flag, is a feeling that I will never find the words to describe.

“It’s proof that vulnerability is strength because it helps others feel less alone.

“This may have been a solo journey but together we made noise for suicide prevention, together we kept striding beyond silence.”

Her trek is the equivalent of walking from Land’s End to John O’ Groats eight times over, while her total ascent mimics scaling Mount Everest nearly 13 times.

While the physical scale of the journey was vast, she said it was the logistical and psychological challenge of navigating 13 countries alone that set the challenge apart.

Carrying a 23kg backpack, Ms Birks spent stretches of up to 10 days completely off-grid in the Arctic Circle, narrowly avoided a cliff fall in Sweden, and had to navigate the personal safety challenges that come with wild camping and travelling alone as a woman.

Ms Birks has been keeping her 60,000 TikTok followers and 155,000 Instagram followers updated throughout her journey.

She is hoping to raise more than £100,000, which will be split between two mental health charities, the Campaign Against Living Miserably (Calm) and James’ Place, which provides life-saving treatment for men in suicidal crisis.

Calm chief executive Simon Gunning said: “All of us at Calm have loved following Kit’s journey across Europe over the last year.

“Not only has Kit raised an amazing amount, but her openness when it comes to mental health has been so incredible.

“We know that stories of survival have a huge impact in showing someone struggling there’s always a way forward, and we’re so grateful that Kit’s championing such an important message.”