Carter Newcomb - 34 days after Tulsa and over 1,200 miles later ...

Way…. back on September 18th, we were introduced to an amazing young man, Carter Newcomb. He touched the hearts and souls of so many in our gracious community during his journey through Tulsa. Just two months earlier, Carter was discharged from a hospital in Michigan after suffering from depression, drugs, and the thoughts of Suicide. Carter, homeless since age 17, struggled to get his life back in order and decided that he needed a goal to save his life. This amazing young man decided to share his story with others through riding his bicycle. As a novice cyclist and on a bike that Carter dug out of the trash, Carter was on a cycling journey starting from the state of Michigan on Route 66 with an ambitious goal to ride to Los Angeles, California.

As reported in an earlier blog post, Carter found himself stranded in Sapulpa - Tulsa in need of help to get his bike repaired. Through an amazing array of communications, social media posts, and community outreach, Carter was greeted with open arms. Team Suicide Prevention rider Mike Guillen, took Carter under his wing and showed him around Tulsa, particularly along Route 66 where Carter drew his inspiration to ride across the country on a journey of hope and healing. Team Captain Bill Taitano with his “grandfatherly instincts” also took a special interest in Carter and decided to focus on seeking resources ahead on Carter’s route to California. On an almost daily basis, Bill would search the internet and then get on the phone and call ahead to towns looking for churches or other community resources to help Carter out. In one instance, Bill called the town’s library who then connected Bill to a local church minister who offered Carter shelter for the night. Bill and Carter regularly communicated. The wonderful miracle about this is that many others also joined in on this epic mission to help Carter.

Yep, in the midst of this awful pandemic, crazy politics, raging wildfires, and hurricanes, very kind people were taking the time to help a young man save himself. Well, as you may have already seen or heard, on October 23, 2020, Carter arrived in California and rode his bicycle onto the Santa Monica pier. Carter is the embodiment of Team Suicide Prevention’s mission statement - “In the Race to Save Lives, Spreading Hope Across America”. Carter has shown that an 18 year on his own can help change the world too.

I can’t confirm this but my bet is that most of you reading this could use a “29 min 56 sec” break from watching the news for the latest updates. During Carter’s stay in Tulsa, Mike and Carter did two Facebook Live sessions. The beauty of this is that they were both unscripted and just a wonderful conversation about a young man on a journey of healing and hope. I’ve included a video compilation of those conversations in the link below. So get yourself a cup of coffee or other favorite beverage and open your heart to a wonderful message.

There is another special blog post in the works on a message from Carter after arriving in California reflecting on his experience and his motivation for riding 3,000 miles. Stay tuned for that very special message.

Thank You

Stay Safe. Stay Healthy

Craig J