AN ARMIDALE woman who has trekked thousands of kilometres to raise mental health awareness has been named Northern Tablelands Woman of the Year.
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Sarah McFarlane-Eagle has been a mental health advocate since 2001, when her brother Ben disappeared into the bush during a psychotic episode.
He was never found and Ms McFarlane-Eagle was inspired to start Walking Feat, an initiative to raise mental health awareness.
Ten months after Ben’s disappearance, Ms McFarlane set off with her brother’s best friend on a 600 kilometre walk along Western Australia’s Bibbulum Track.
Since then she has tackled a 1750 kilometer walk through France and Spain, a 1100 kilometre trek around Japan and the 1700 kilometre journey from Armidale to Melbourne.
Each walk has also seen her deliver a number of public speeches.
She is an ambassador for SANE Australia and through her walks has raised more than $20,000 for the charity.
Ms McFarlane-Eagle said it was “really wonderful” to be named 2014 Northern Tablelands Woman of the Year.
“It’s a great boost to the cause of raising awareness of mental health issues,” she said.
Ms McFarlane-Eagle completed a Bachelor of Psychology with honours through the University of New England in 2010.
