Paulie O’Byrne has had to stick-handle a lot of bad stuff in his life, now he’s planning on stick-handling across Canada.
The 30-year-old London resident is embarking on a cross-Canada tour to raise awareness and $1 million for sexual abuse services for males.
He says, "There's programs for pedophiles but no programs for male sexual abuse survivors in London. So we have to change that."
O’Byrne was sexually assaulted in 2006, at the age of 21, when he was a minor hockey coach, by a man he trusted - a league executive.
Unable to deal with the abuse, the Mount Forest native turned to drugs, alcohol and self-harm.
He attempted suicide three times before eventually sharing his story, accepting counselling and turning his life around. It took nine years.
One of the first two people he told were former NHLers Theoren Fleury and Sheldon Kennedy, both well-known fellow abuse victims.
"They kind of inspired me to tell my friends and to tell people. And that I have to be comfortable with telling this because this isn't my shame to hold, it's my story to tell," he says.
O'Byrne's stick-handling trip begins May 1st in Victoria, B.C. He’s looking for sticks, shoes, food and fuel for his trip to help him reach his fundraising goal.
"I'm blazing a new trail, so to speak, because people don't talk about this sometimes, not even up until 30, 40 - sometimes they never talk about this. And that's got to change because it's killing Canadians."
