Carol Cruise
Carol Cruise walks along Highway 2 south of Libby after planting a small wooden cross to mark mile 5,606 of her 12,000-mile journey. Photo by Kootenai Valley Record.
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Amputee walking perimeter of U.S.
by Brent Shrum, Kootenai Valley Record
August 7, 2008
An Ohio woman with a prosthetic leg passed through Libby last week near the midpoint of a nine-year, 12,000 mile walk around the perimeter of the United States.
Carol Cruise lost her right leg in 1992 due to complications from a botched surgery after a fracture. She said she asked God to use her as an amputee in a way she couldn’t have been of use as a two-legged person.
"After three years and 15 surgeries, I decided I wanted to be a better person, not a bitter person," she said.
Cruise found her purpose and in January 2002 began her journey north along the East Coast from Miami, Fla. She placed a three-foot cross in the ground on the beach and continues to plant a small cross every mile she walks.
On Highway 2 at mile marker 39 last Thursday, she planted cross number 5,606. Like the rest, it had a small card attached asking anyone who finds it to pass it on to someone and tell them, "God loves you." The card explains that the purpose of the walk is to pray for the country and to encourage people to focus on their God-given abilities, not on their disabilities. The reverse side includes Cruise’s contact information.
Cruise is accompanied on her walk by evangelist and prayer partner Wendi Miller, who joined her in July 2003. She spots Cruise from a car or bicycle and handles public relations. The two were joined in 2006 by a three-legged Pomeranian dog, Walker T.
During the past few winters, when it was too cold to walk, Cruise scheduled speaking engagements around the southern United States. She has picked up where she left off in the spring, this year starting on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation.
"I started on the fourth of June, and it still snowed after we started walking," she said.
This year, Cruise plans to just take a few weeks off for Christmas before heading on down the West Coast. At an average of 50 miles a week, she expects to finish her walk at the end of 2010.
More information on Cruise’s walk can be found online at www.faithwalk.net.
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Editor’s Note: See the August 4, 2008 edition of the Kootenai Valley Record for the printed version of this story. The Kootenai Valley Record publishes once a week, on Monday, in Libby, Montana. They are a locally owned community newspaper, located at 403 Mineral Avenue in Libby. For in-county and out-of-county subscription information, call 406-293-2424, or e-mail kvrecord@gmail.com.
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