Wearing his Stormtrooper attire, 501st Legion member Kevin Doyle walked 501 miles to San Diego, California to attend San Diego’s Comic Con International 2015 in honor of his late wife Eileen Shige Doyle, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2012.
Both he and his wife were members of the Star Wars costuming fan group: The 501st Legion, who shared in their love for both Star Wars fandom, and each other. He tells the San Diego Tribune:
“In the time since she died, I’ve struggled with how to deal with the loss. I’ve been self-destructive and my art suffered. Being out here, my mindset is an open book. I hope I find enough healing to be creative and work in that way again. When you lose somebody, you look for things like that. To me it was like she was telling me that this was something I needed to do.”
Kevin was inspired to embark on his journey when he realized that the distance from his home in San Francisco to San Diego was 501 miles. This journey was not just a beautiful act of love, but also the means to raise funds to open a children’s cancer charity foundation in her honor, Eileen’s Little Angels.
On a personal note, and on behalf of all of us here at Nerd Nation Magazine, I would like to extend our support and congratulations to Kevin on completing his journey, and hope he has an amazing time at SDCC. With so much tragedy in the media these days, and so many terrible things happening all-around , it’s truly inspiring and heart-warming to hear of such a beautiful act of love. I for one am not the least bit surprised to see this come from our wonderful nerd culture.
Check out the official Twitter page: @501MileWalk for more photos, the full story, and to find out how you can help.
-Dave Harlequin
Editor in Chief: Nerd Nation Magazine
@DaveHarlequin
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