GILMAN, Ill. (WCIA) — At 90 years old, Dean Troutman is taking each day one step at a time.
“I’ve gone only a little over 100 miles. I’m just getting started,” he said.
The Princeville, Illinois, man is raising money to help children fight cancer. He’s traveling from Illinois — through 15 states and back home — and he’s doing it all on foot.
Troutman is no stranger when it comes to hitting the pavement. “Seven hundred is the most, the biggest walk I’ve completed,” he said.
But this walk is unlike anything he’s attempted before. Troutman is walking 3,600 miles to raise as much money as he can for St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
“I like to walk, and I’ve got to have a reason to do it, and St. Jude is a charity I think deserves it as much or more than anyone I can think of,” he said.
Troutman said it will take a while to complete the long trek.
“I might be back home next year, July or August,” he said. “My goal now is to get out of Illinois, and once I get into Indiana, my goal is to hit Ohio then Kentucky and West Virginia, then Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and I hope to be out in Florida by Christmas.”
But Troutman said there’s no better time to accomplish his goal. “As long as people keep sending in donations and these old bones hold up and this old body keeps holding together, I’m going to keep walking,” he said.
So far, he’s raised over $9,600. His goal is $36,000.
Read more Chicago news headlines and stories here.