Talk about a walk to remember.
Minnesota native Kevin Doyle is currently walking 645 miles down California’s West Coast in full stormtrooper armor in his late wife Eileen’s memory.
Doyle, who lost his wife to cancer, is making the trek to San Diego’s annual Comic-Con entertainment and comic convention, raising money for cancer research in her honor along the way.
Doyle and and Eileen, both artists, shared a passion for “Star Wars”. Eileen was a known artist at comic book shows and created a variety of “Star Wars” and superhero character artwork.
The duo had been married for just one year before Eileen was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, passing away at the young age of 45.
Doyle with his late wife Eileen. (Photo: Kevin Doyle/501 Walk/Facebook)
Doyle hopes the journey will help him move past Eileen’s passing on Nov. 7, 2012, telling ABC’s San Diego affiliate KGTV, “I don’t feel like I’ve gotten to November 8. I’ve been stuck on November 7.”
No stranger to tests of endurance, Doyle has previously participated in charitable walks. In 2013, he completed a three-day, 60-mile walk while also dressed in stormtrooper apparel and in honor of Eileen.
“I can just hear her saying, ‘You’re such a dork,’” Doyle said. “But she’s a self-proclaimed geek.”
He started the 645-mile journey at a famous “Star Wars” museum just north of San Francisco in Petaluma, California on June 6.
“It’s so important for me to continue on with her dreams and wishes, to make a difference,” Doyle told the Time Warriors in 2013. “She believed that she could make a difference, and I believe in her.”
For his current West Coast walk, Doyle created an online Crowdrise page to raise money for Eileen’s Little Angels, a charitable organization he created to give gift bags to children undergoing chemotherapy. In the final stages of getting the foundation off the ground, Doyle has to date raised $3,565 via the Crowdrise page.
Doyle has trekked through heat waves, rainstorms and narrow cliff trails on his journey to Comic-Con. (Photo: Kevin Doyle/501 Mile Walk/Facebook)
“With the money raised I will be able to create such things as a coloring book, bandanas, a blanket and plush toys … all featuring Eileen’s artwork,” Doyle wrote on the Crowdrise page. “It is my hope that this walk will help me to heal and give my life purpose by sharing Eileen’s spirit through her artwork with children battling cancer.”
Doyle will also be teaming up with 501st Legion, a worldwide costuming organization Eileen was a member of prior to her passing, and the Minnesota Superheroes United to schedule visits to local children’s hospitals. Doyle plans to sit down with children and teach them how to draw superheroes.
While the journey to Comic-Con is for his wife, the journey back will be for Doyle and his healing process. The Golden Gate Bridge will serve as his finish line.
“I want this to be a cleansing,” he told KGTV.
Doyle is expected to make it to Comic-Con on July 9.