PHOTOS: A day after he ran 80 miles to raise money for colleagues struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, former Woodstock firefighter and paramedic Ryan Mains was sore, tired and thankful.
“I don’t know how I can express my gratitude,” he said from his home in Huntley. “The support we got in the months leading up to it and yesterday was so incredible.”
Mains’ 21½-hour odyssey Saturday was meant as a tribute to the 130 firefighters and EMS personnel who took their own lives in 2019 — he ran 1 km for each of them — and as a way to bring visibility and funds to a cause with which he has painful personal experience. Mains, 40, an Iraq War veteran and a longtime first responder, left his job with the Woodstock Fire and Rescue District last year to be treated for PTSD, and is still trying to secure disability benefits.