THE LIVES OF OTHERS. WHAT WOULD YOU DO FOR A CAUSE THAT YOU BELIEVE IN? WELL, ONE CALIFORNIA DOCTOR IS PUTTING HIS BODY ON THE LINE TO MAKE A POINT. ACCORDING TO THE MAYO CLINIC, THE AVERAGE PERSON WALKS ABOUT ONE AND A HALF TO TWO MILES A DAY. FOR MOST OF THE NEXT MONTH. DOCTOR DENNIS GODBY WILL BE DOING A WHOLE LOT MORE THAN THAT. THIS IS THE SECOND, FIFTH OF THE WALK ACROSS THE UNITED STATES. LAST YEAR I WALKED FROM MYRTLE BEACH TO KNOXVILLE TODAY FROM KNOXVILLE. I’M GOING THIS TIME. I’M GOING FROM KNOXVILLE TO MILWAUKEE. IF YOU’RE WONDERING, THAT’S A WALK OF MORE THAN 600 MILES. AND THIS IS NO LEISURELY RAMBLE THROUGH THE COUNTRYSIDE. DOCTOR GODBY IS DOING THIS TO TRY AND BRING ATTENTION TO AN ISSUE THAT, IN HIS OPINION, AFFECTS FAR TOO MANY PEOPLE. THE REASON IS FOR HEALTH EQUITY. THE TITLE OF IT IS WALK USA FOR HEALTH EQUITY. IN SHORT, THE GOAL OF INCREASED HEALTH EQUITY IS TO GIVE EVERYONE AN EQUAL ACCESS TO THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF HEALTH CARE. GODBY, WHO WAS INSPIRED TO TRY AND BRING ATTENTION TO THIS ISSUE BY THE PANDEMIC, SAYS THE INEQUITIES MANIFEST THEMSELVES ALL AROUND US EVERY DAY. FOR EXAMPLE, THREE TIMES MORE BLACK WOMEN DIE AT CHILDBIRTH AND WHITE WOMEN DO. DOCTOR GODBY AVERAGES ABOUT 24 MILES A DAY. BY THE END OF FRIDAY’S WALK, WHICH TOOK HIM THROUGH SHELBY COUNTY, HE WILL HAVE GONE MORE THAN 250 MILES. WHAT KEEPS HIM GOING IS SOMETHING HIS WIFE, WHO HE CALLS HIS BIGGEST FAN, SAID TO HIM ON THE EVE OF HIS JOURNEY WHEN MY WIFE ASKED ME, SHE SAID, WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR? THE NIGHT BEFORE? AND I WAS SURPRISED BY HER QUESTION. BUT SHE THAT SHE HAD THAT MUCH FORETHOUGHT. AND SHE I TOLD HER THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT IT WOULDN’T MAKE ENOUGH OF A DIFFERENCE. AND SHE SAID, THAT’S NOT WHY YOU’RE OUT THERE. YOU’RE OUT THERE BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO DO IT WHETHER IT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE OR NOT AT HIS CURRENT PACE, DOCTOR GODBY HOPES TO BE IN MILWAUKEE BY SEPTEMBER 27TH. GOOD LUC
Doctor walking from Knoxville to Milwaukee for health equity passes through Kentucky
From Knoxville to Milwaukee: Walking for health equity
Updated: 6:12 PM EDT Sep 8, 2023
According to the Mayo Clinic, the average person walks between 1.5 and 2 miles a day. For much of the next month, Dr. Dennis Godby will be walking much more than that.”So this is the second, fifth last year I walked from Myrtle Beach to Knoxville, Tennessee. This time, I’m going from Knoxville to Milwaukee,” Godby said.He’s doing it for a cause close to his heart.”The reason is for health equity, and the title of it is Health USA for Health Equity,” Godby said.In short, the goal of increased health equity is equal access to quality health care regardless of economic, ethnic, or racial background.The inspiration for the walk came from inequities Godby saw during the pandemic. He told us these gaps in health care are seen every day.”For example, three times more Black women die in childbirth than white women do,” Godby said. “When my wife asked me, ‘What is your biggest fear?’ I was surprised by her question that she had that much for thought, and I told her that it wouldn’t make that much of a difference,” Godby said. “She said that’s not why you’re out there; you’re out there because you have to do it whether it makes a big difference or not.”At his current pace, Godby will reach Milwaukee on Sept. 27
According to the Mayo Clinic, the average person walks between 1.5 and 2 miles a day.
For much of the next month, Dr. Dennis Godby will be walking much more than that.
“So this is the second, fifth last year I walked from Myrtle Beach to Knoxville, Tennessee. This time, I’m going from Knoxville to Milwaukee,” Godby said.
He’s doing it for a cause close to his heart.
“The reason is for health equity, and the title of it is Health USA for Health Equity,” Godby said.
In short, the goal of increased health equity is equal access to quality health care regardless of economic, ethnic, or racial background.
The inspiration for the walk came from inequities Godby saw during the pandemic. He told us these gaps in health care are seen every day.
“For example, three times more Black women die in childbirth than white women do,” Godby said.
“When my wife asked me, ‘What is your biggest fear?’ I was surprised by her question that she had that much for thought, and I told her that it wouldn’t make that much of a difference,” Godby said. “She said that’s not why you’re out there; you’re out there because you have to do it whether it makes a big difference or not.”
At his current pace, Godby will reach Milwaukee on Sept. 27
